https://mormonr.org/qnas/kQII1/the_100_billion_fund
“Mormonr” wrote:
Is the Church doing anything illegal by having this fund?
No.[101][102] However, they did violate SEC reporting regulations in how they disclosed EPA's portfolio, were fined for it in 2023, and have changed their reporting to conform with the SEC's order.
Didn't the Church get fined by the SEC for fraud?
Not fraud per se, but for filing "Misstated Forms" with the SEC.[114] In 2023, the SEC fined the Church and EPA a total of $5 million for "failing to file forms that would have disclosed the Church’s equity investments, and for instead filing forms for shell companies that obscured the Church’s portfolio and misstated Ensign Peak’s control over the Church’s investment decisions."
https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-35“SEC” wrote: To prevent disclosure of the securities portfolio managed by Ensign Peak, the Church approved Ensign Peak’s plan of using other entities, instead of Ensign Peak, to file Forms 13F. The Church was concerned that disclosure of the assets in the name of Ensign Peak, a known Church affiliate, would lead to negative consequences in light of the size of the Church’s portfolio. Ensign Peak did not have the authority to implement this approach without the approval of the Church’s First Presidency.
In 2001, at Ensign Peak’s recommendation, the Church created a trust, and a separate LLC under the ownership of the trust, to file Forms 13F. The Church designated Ensign Peak’s Managing Director as the trustee. Ensign Peak filed the first Form 13F identifying the Church’s Section 13(f) Securities in the name of the trust’s LLC. Senior leadership of the Church approved the creation of the first LLC to file Forms 13F.
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On March 15, 2005, the Church became aware that the public might link this first LLC to the Church because the person signing the Forms 13F was listed in a public directory as a Church employee. To address this issue, on March 21, 2005, the senior leadership of the Church approved a new reporting entity to be created with “better care being taken to ensure that neither the ‘Street’ nor the media [could] connect the new entity to Ensign Peak.”
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Several years later, in 2011, Ensign Peak became concerned that its portfolio had become so large that the Form 13F filings it made using the name of the second LLC might attract unwanted attention and sought the Church’s approval to form additional LLCs to file Forms 13F. On May 19, 2011, the Church’s senior leadership approved Ensign Peak’s recommendation to “clone” the second LLC to create new Form 13F filers.
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On November 6, 2015, the senior leadership of the Church approved Ensign Peak’s plan for the creation of additional Clone LLCs to further prevent disclosure of the Church’s holdings managed by Ensign Peak. Ensign Peak formed six additional Clone LLCs, bringing the total to twelve.
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Throughout its history, at least once each year, Ensign Peak’s Managing Director met with the senior leadership of the Church to discuss Ensign Peak’s activities, including at times the LLC Structure. Unanimous approval from the senior leadership of the Church was required before Ensign Peak could deviate from the LLC Structure and file Forms 13F in Ensign Peak’s own name.
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As a result of the conduct described above, the Church caused Ensign Peak’s violations of Section 13(f)(1) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13f-1 thereunder.