Eagle Bancorp CFO Faces SEC Probe

Eagle Bancorp CFO Charles Levingston seems to have the assist of the company’s board as he faces a probable enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Fee.

The SEC has indicated its personnel designed a preliminary determination to advise prices from Levingston by sending him a so-called Wells recognize. The mother or father business of EagleBank disclosed the recognize Wednesday in an earnings release.

But Eagle Bancorp CEO Susan Riel explained Thursday that the board had decided to have Levingston proceed to provide as CFO.

“The board’s leading priority is, as it normally has been, to act in the best curiosity of the business and the company’s stockholders, and we, and the board, keep on being confident in the company’s disclosure controls, accuracy of its money reporting, and the professionalism of the company’s finance perform and personnel,” she explained in an earnings call.

Levingston has been with the Bethesda, Md., bank given that 2012 and previously worked as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Banking institutions of Atlanta and Philadelphia.

The earnings release did not specify what allegations Levingston could possibly be facing but explained he had received the Wells recognize in relationship with an SEC investigation that Eagle first disclosed in July 2019.

The bank has “initiated discussions with the personnel about a probable resolution or settlement of the staff’s investigation with regard to the company” and “any present personnel and administrators,” the release explained.

In accordance to American Banker, the SEC has been investigating Eagle’s ties to former District of Columbia Councilman Jack Evans, who allegedly lobbied for laws that would be favorable to Eagle after the bank employed him as a advisor. He also owned Eagle shares.

Eagle’s co-founder and former CEO Ron Paul abruptly retired in March 2019, citing wellness problems.

“The business believes [the investigation] relate[s] to the company’s identification, classification and disclosure of similar get together transactions the retirement of specific former officers and administrators and the romance of the business and specific of its former officers and administrators with a area public official, among the other factors,” the earnings release stated.

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Charles Levingston, Eagle Bancorp, enforcement action, Susan Riel, Wells recognize