Lender Better faces SEC probe for alleged federal laws violation
9:51 pm Thursday, July 14th, 2022
(Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is examining whether mortgage lender Better.com and the special purpose acquisition company it has agreed to merge with, Aurora Acquisition Corp, violated federal securities laws.
In the second-quarter of 2022, Better and Aurora received voluntary requests from the regulator for some documents and information, Aurora said in a filing on Thursday.
“We believe it’s a routine request for information, not an inquiry,” a spokesperson for Better.com said in an emailed statement.
The SEC requests, cover among other things, information on the business transactions of Chief Executive Officer Vishal Garg and allegations made in a lawsuit against him filed by Sarah Pierce, Better.com’s former head of sales and operations.
Last month, Pierce filed a lawsuit claiming that Garg misrepresented Better.com’s statements to ensure investors go through with a SPAC merger instead of withdrawing due to its financial condition.
Better.com and Aurora are cooperating with the SEC, the blank check company added in the SEC filing.
The SEC declined to comment and Aurora Acquisition Corp, too, declined to comment beyond the filing.
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
