Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with New York-based hedge fund adviser Philip A. Falcone and his advisory firm Harbinger Capital Partners.

The agreement was the first to require a defendant to admit wrongdoing since the SEC announced a tougher policy in June that would require such admissions more often, according to a Reuters report. (Falcone, who agreed to be barred from the securities industry for five years under the SEC settlement, has also been banned by New York officials from decision-making roles at Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance, a unit of his firm, for seven years.)