Statement of Andy Altahawi · July 15, 2026
This page sets out, in Mr. Altahawi’s own words, the facts of the 2018–2019 SEC Longfin matter and his position on it. The complete career record, with primary sources, is published at Record & Regulatory History.
What happened
In 2017, I served as the outside listing advisor to Longfin Corp. in connection with its Regulation A+ offering and NASDAQ listing — an advisory role the SEC’s own pleadings acknowledge. In 2018, the SEC filed a civil enforcement action in the Southern District of New York naming the company, its CEO, and several individuals, including me, principally concerning sales of Longfin shares alleged to be unregistered. Amended charges followed in 2019 relating to the listing process. The action was civil; nothing about it was criminal.
In June 2019, I resolved the matter by consent, without admitting or denying the allegations. Under the final judgment and a related administrative order, I agreed to pay approximately $24 million and to surrender my Longfin shares, together with two time-limited restrictions: a five-year officer-and-director bar and an associational bar limited to specific categories of SEC-regulated entities, with the express right to reapply after five years. Both five-year periods ended in June 2024. Neither restriction ever prevented me from practicing law, from providing capital markets consulting outside registered entities, or from leading Adamson Brothers in its advisory capacity.
Why I settled
I did not settle because the allegations were correct. I settled because my bank and brokerage accounts had been frozen by the SEC pending the litigation, depriving me of the means to fund a multi-year defense against the federal government.
On the central allegation concerning my share sales, my position has never changed: I had held my shares for over thirteen months, as confirmed by the transfer agent’s compliance department and by a Rule 144 legal opinion issued by U.S. securities counsel before any sale took place. I deny the SEC’s allegations against me in full and maintain that they were baseless — and that a process in which a defendant’s assets are frozen so that he cannot afford to contest the very allegations against him is a travesty of justice.
The record itself says what it says: the judgment I consented to states that I neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
Why I can say this plainly today
For decades, the SEC’s “no-deny” policy (17 C.F.R. § 202.5(e)) — widely criticized as the “gag rule” — prohibited settling defendants from publicly denying the allegations against them. That policy is what prevented me from stating my position this directly for years.
On May 18, 2026, the Commission formally rescinded that policy and stated it will not enforce no-deny provisions in existing settlements (SEC Press Release 2026-45). My settlement stands, every term of it honored. What has changed is that I — like every American who settled under the old policy — may now exercise my First Amendment right to say what I have always maintained: the allegations were untrue, and I settled because the asset freeze left me no realistic means to fight them.
The record since
In the seven years since the matter was resolved, my work has continued without interruption through Adamson Brothers — listing readiness, Regulation A+ and registered offering preparation, direct listing advisory, and cross-border structuring — alongside my international legal practice. There have been no regulatory matters of any kind since. A forty-year career should be judged in whole: the transactions completed, the clients served, and the standards kept before and since.
A note on accuracy — and on defamation
The 2019 matter was settled by consent, without any admission and without any trial or adjudicated findings. Reporting that accurately is fair comment. Publishing that I was “found” to have committed fraud, or was “convicted,” or treating settled allegations as adjudicated fact, is false. A network of anonymous websites publishes fabricated claims of exactly that kind; sites of this kind are, from time to time, the subject of defamation litigation I file. I will not hesitate to pursue any publisher who defames me or misrepresents the record in that way.
Questions are welcome: info@directlylisted.com · WhatsApp +1 949-529-2500 · Full record with primary sources: Record & Regulatory History