Watchdog halts Facebook IPO investigation

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has completed an investigation into Facebook’s IPO. No sanctions have been announced. Facebook’s IPO went through some problems due to falling prices and faltering trading systems.

That says the Reuters news agency based on a quarterly report from Facebook. The US watchdog SEC has informed Facebook that the ongoing investigation into Facebook’s IPO has been closed without punitive measures being imposed. Furthermore, it is not clear with what reason the SEC has stopped the investigation.

Facebook’s IPO has been under investigation for some time because of the problems that arose while starting stock trading. For example, the initial price of $38, converted about $28, fell soon after trading started, and the massive interest caused technical problems in the trading systems of the Nasdaq exchange. Nasdaq previously had to pay a fine for this.

Facebook was accused of misleading investors by charging too high an initial price when trading Facebook shares. The bank Morgan Stanley, which supervised the IPO, is said to have adjusted its expectations downwards, but has not shared this information with the general public. Shortly after the start of trading, just over two years ago, the IPO investigation was launched.