Before M. Russell Ballard was a Mormon apostle, he was president of a Salt Lake City brokerage firm — and in 1962, the SEC opened proceedings against him and his company. This week on Mormon True Crime, Hannah and Jess dig into the Keystone Securities case: a mining stock offering, allegedly false and misleading statements, and a broker-dealer registration that got revoked. Ballard was personally named as a cause of that revocation. He was never criminally convicted, and Mormon apologetics site FAIR has a list of defenses — but the SEC's findings stood. Then they connect it to something more recent: the Church's own 2023 SEC settlement over Ensign Peak Advisors, which used shell LLCs to obscure its investment portfolio for years. Same institution, same pattern, decades apart — public-facing polish, and a very different story underneath once regulators got involved. Why does transparency keep becoming a problem for an institution that demands total honesty from its own members? That's the question this episode sits with. Support the show: venmo: @postmormonpostmortem buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem Ad-free listening from $2/month: patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem TikTok & Instagram: @postmormonpostmortem postmormonpostmortem.com 00:01 Russell Ballard's Background and SEC Case 02:17 Details of the SEC Proceedings 04:53 Charges Against Keystone Securities 07:02 Defenses and Reactions 09:30 Mormon Leadership and Transparency Issues 11:48 Conclusion and Reflections

Archax Group Ltd (“Archax”), the UK/EU regulated digital asset platform provider, today announced that its US subsidiary, Archax Markets LLC (“Archax Markets”), has received approval of its New Member Application from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), completing its registration as a US digital broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The FINRA approval for Archax Markets marks a major milestone in Archax's global expansion, establishing directly, regulated operations in the world's largest capital market and completing a regulatory footprint that now spans the UK (FCA), the EU (CNMV) and the US (SEC/FINRA). Through its US broker-dealer, Archax will be able to offer private placements of both traditional and digital securities, including tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), to US institutional and accredited investors. Significantly, the firm's registration also includes the ability to chaperone non-US broker dealer offerings of both traditional and digital securities private placement offerings in the US for Major US Institutional Investors (MUSSI) and US Institutional Investors in compliance with SEC Rule 15a-6. Archax Markets has also set up a correspondent clearing arrangement with tZERO Securities, LLC and tZERO Digital Asset Securities, LLC (“TDAS”) that establishes the firm as an ‘introducing broker’. Together these relationships will give Archax Markets’ clients broader access to both traditional and digital asset services – including custody, escrow, and secondary trading via the tZERO Securities ATS. This approval follows a period of significant international expansion for Archax, including the acquisition of a broker in Spain for access to the EU region and establishing an entity in Dubai as a UAE base. Graham Rodford, CEO and co-founder of Archax, comments: "The Archax vision has always been global, regulated, institutional-grade access to RWAs. We want to continue to help support institutional market participants’ transition from traditional to digital assets and give them the regulated tools and services they need to do that. The US is the deepest pool of institutional demand for tokenized assets and Archax is now one of the few firms with directly regulated status across all three major Western jurisdictions." Consistent with this vision, Archax Markets will also invite experienced and specialized independent ‘registered representatives’ that are interested in participating in the digital asset arena to register with its firm. By affiliating with Archax Markets, registered representatives will gain access to digital asset securities capabilities and knowledge that few existing broker-dealers can offer - enabling them to bring tokenized real-world assets to their own clients and investor networks. The US approval positions Archax to serve growing institutional demand for tokenized RWAs, as US policymakers and regulators move toward a clearer framework for digital asset markets. Archax expects to commence US operations during Q3 2026.

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Wintermute said the registration allows the firm to position itself for the growth of tokenized securities in the US.

Wintermute broker-dealer approval gives its US arm SEC and FINRA registration. Here's what the license allows and why it matters for crypto markets.