Iovance Engaged in Illegal Stock Promotion Scheme According to SEC

According to a filed derivative complaint, Iovance (NasdaqGM: IOVA) made misleading statements regarding the company's business, operations, prospects, and legal compliance by failing to disclose its involvement in a stock promotion scheme and the company's failure to maintain adequate internal controls. On April 10, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") found that Iovance, through its former Chief Executive Officer Manish Singh, engaged in a scheme to mislead investors by commissioning the publication and dissemination of emails purported to be independent from Iovance that promoted the company to potential investors when they were actually paid promotions. The SEC also found that Iovance had engaged in "improper 'gun-jumping,'" an illegal practice of soliciting orders to buy a new issue before registration of the company's initial public offering has been approved by the SEC.