UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Before the

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Release No. 104022 / September 23, 2025

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING

File No. 3-21673

In the Matter of

Summit Planning Group, Inc. and

Richard Urciuoli,

Respondents.

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NOTICE OF PROPOSED PLAN OF

DISTRIBUTION AND OPPORTUNITY

FOR COMMENT

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to Rule 1103 of the United States Securities and

Exchange Commission’s (the “Commission”) Rules on Fair Fund and Disgorgement Plans (the

“Commission’s Rules”), 17 C.F.R. § 201.1103, that the Division of Enforcement has submitted

to the Commission a proposed plan of distribution (the “Proposed Plan”) for the distribution of

monies paid in the above-captioned matter.

On September 18, 2023, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative and

Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Sections 203(e), 203(f) and 203(k) of the Investment

Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-andDesist Order (the “Order”) 1 against Summit Planning Group, Inc. and Richard Urciuoli

(collectively, the “Respondents”). In the Order, the Commission found that there were breaches

of the fiduciary duty of care and compliance failures by Summit, a registered investment adviser,

and Urciuoli, Summit’s sole owner and investment professional, who invested advisory client

assets in a volatility linked exchange traded product—the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX ShortTerm Futures ETN (“VXX”)—for extended periods of time without having a reasonable basis to

do so. Of the 457 client accounts that Summit advised from July 30, 2021 to December 1, 2021,

Urciuoli invested 293 of those accounts in a 3% position in VXX on July 30, 2021. Summit sold

approximately half of the VXX position in those accounts 34 trading days later on September 17,

2021, and the remaining VXX position in each account 86 trading days later on December 1,

2021. This conduct was inconsistent with VXX’s prospectus and pricing supplement, which

stated that the product carried unique risks, was designed to be held for very short time periods,

likely would incur costs if held for more than one trading session, and required frequent

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Investment Advisors Act Rel. No. 6423

monitoring. The client accounts holding VXX collectively lost over $443,809 from those

investments. Summit also failed to adopt and implement policies and procedures reasonably

designed to prevent violations of the Advisers Act and the rules adopted

thereunder. As Summit’s sole owner and investment adviser representative, President, and Chief

Compliance Officer, Urciuoli was responsible for Summit’s failures. Based on this conduct,

Summit and Urciuoli willfully violated Section 206(2) of the Advisers Act. Summit also

willfully violated, and Urciuoli caused Summit’s violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers

Act and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder.

The Fair Fund includes the $109,401.59 collected from the Respondents. The assets of

the Fair Fund are subject to the continuing jurisdiction and control of the Commission. The Fair

Fund has been deposited in a Commission-designated account at the U.S. Department of the

Treasury, and any interest accrued will be added to the Fair Fund.

OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT

Pursuant to this Notice, all interested persons are advised that they may obtain a copy of

the Plan from the Commission’s public website at

https://www.sec.gov/litigation/fairfundlist.htm. Interested persons may also obtain a written

copy of the Proposed Plan by submitting a written request to Michael Lim, United States

Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549-5876. All

persons who desire to comment on the Proposed Plan may submit their comments, in writing, no

later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Notice:

1.

to the Office of the Secretary, United States Securities and Exchange

Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090;

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by using the Commission’s Internet comment form

(https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin.shtml); or

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by sending an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov.

Comments submitted by email or via the Commission’s website should include “Administrative

Proceeding File No. 3-21673” in the subject line. Comments received will be publicly available.

Persons should submit only information they wish to make publicly available.

THE PROPOSED PLAN

The Net Available Fair Fund 2 of $109,401.59 is comprised of $8,476.36

in disgorgement, $925.23 in prejudgment interest, and $100,000.000 in civil penalties collected

from the Respondents, plus any interest and income earned thereon, less taxes, fees, and

expenses. The Proposed Plan provides for the distribution of the Net Available Fair Fund to

clients for whom Summit used its discretionary authority to buy and hold the iPath S&P VIX

Short-Term Futures ETN (“VXX” or “Securities”) for extended time periods that were

All capitalized terms used herein but not defined shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Proposed

Plan.

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inconsistent with the intended use of the product from July 30, 2021 through December 1, 2021

(the “Relevant Period”).

For the Commission, by the Division of Enforcement, pursuant to delegated authority. 3

Vanessa A. Countryman

Secretary

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17 C.F.R. § 200.30-4(a)(21)(iii).

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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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