The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) and its investment management firm, Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., agreed to pay a combined $5 million to settle charges that the religious institution did not correctly disclose its investment holdings, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday.
According to the SEC, the Mormon church and its nonprofit investment group used shell companies from 1997 to 2019 to hide the LDS’s multibillion-dollar stock portfolio from the public over worries that it would generate negative publicity and donors would no longer contribute to the church.
