SEC Takes Legal Action Against Prager Metis Over Auditor Independence Violations Amid Tether Audit Concerns

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against Prager Metis, an accounting firm hired by the FTX Group for audit services in 2021. The SEC alleges that Prager Metis violated auditor-independence rules. The SEC claims that Prager Metis failed to comply with the SEC auditor independence rule in connection with 62 audits, 11 examinations, and 144 reviews conducted between December 2017 and October 2020. The SEC's legal proceedings accuse Prager Metis of committing hundreds of auditor independence-related violations over nearly three years. The news of the SEC's action against Prager Metis comes amid ongoing concerns about Tether's lack of financial audits, with critics accusing the company of fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, and human trafficking. Tether, a stablecoin, has promised to conduct a financial audit for nine years but has not yet completed one.