According to its website,

The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a three-part mission:

  • Protect investors

  • Maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets

  • Facilitate capital formation

I think it needs to add: “Ensure proper entity identification.” 

Examples abound. Take this recent 10-Q:

On June 27, 2018, the Company formed a joint venture with Downtown Television, Inc., for the purpose of developing, producing and marketing entertainment content relating to deep-sea exploration, historical shipwreck search, artifact recovery, and expounding upon the history of these shipwrecks.  The joint venture is being formed as a new limited liability corporation that will be 50% owned each by EXPL and Downtown, and has been named Megalodon Entertainment, LLC. (“Megalodon”), as is further described in Note B. 

Endurance Exploration Group, Inc., SEC 10-Q, for the quarterly period ended: June 30, 2018 (emphasis added). 

Side note: That 10-Q, I will note, raised some other questionable decisionmaking, as it goes on to report: 

NOTE B – JOINT VENTURE

EXPL Swordfish, LLC

Effective January 9, 2017, the Company, through a newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary, EXPL Swordfish, LLC (“EXPL Swordfish”), entered into a joint-venture agreement (“Agreement”) with Deep Blue Exploration, LLC, d/b/a Marex (“Marex”).  The joint venture between EXPL Swordfish and Marex is referred to as Swordfish Partners.

As near as I can tell, Swordfish Partners is what it says it is, a partnership formed as a joint venture for a unique purpose.  This is fascinating to me.  Why would a company filing quarterly reports with the SEC not choose to take the time to create an LLC for the joint venture? I’m not a maritime expert, though I did participate in Tulane Law School’s program with the Aegean Institute of the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law many years ago. I simply cannot come up with a good reason not to create a limited liability entity for the joint venture.  I know there are times when it makes sense (or is not a concern), but this doesn’t seem like one of those times. 

I did a quick look for some other entity issues in SEC filings. There are many more, but this is what the Google machine provided in a quick search:

  • From Core Moldings Technologies, Inc. Schedule 13D (Aug. 8, S018): “GGCP Holdings is a Delaware limited liability corporation having its principal business office at 140 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830.”   
  • From Financial Engines, Inc. Form 8-K, Jan. 28, 2016: “On February 1, 2016, Financial Engines, Inc. (“Financial Engines”) completed the previously announced acquisition of Kansas City 727 Acquisition LLC, a Delaware limited liability corporation ….”
  • Limited Liability Company Agreement of Artist Arena International, LLC, Exhibit 3.206: “This Limited Liability Company Agreement (this “Agreement”) of Artist Arena International, LLC, a New York limited liability company (the “Company”), dated as of January 4, 2011, is adopted and entered into by Artist Arena LLC., a New York limited liability corporation (the “Member” or “AA”), pursuant to and in accordance with the Limited Liability Company Law of the State of New York, Article 2, §§ 201-214, et seq., as amended from time to time (the “Act”).”
  • CloudCommerce, Inc., Form 8-K, October 1, 2015: “Certificate of Merger of Domestic Corporation and Foreign Limited Liability Corporation between Warp 9, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Indaba Group, LLC, a Colorado limited liability company.”

I swear we can do better.  Really.