On December 17, 2020, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings Pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order (“Robinhood Order”)  against Robinhood, finding that the Respondent violated Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act, and Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 17a-4 thereunder.  The matter involves material misrepresentations and omissions by Robinhood relating to its revenue sources, specifically its receipt of payments from certain principal trading firms, also known as electronic market makers, for routing Robinhood customer orders to them, and relating to certain statements about the execution quality Robinhood achieved for its customers’ orders, and Robinhood’s failure to satisfy its duty of best execution for those orders.

The Robinhood Order required Robinhood to pay a civil money penalty of $65,000,000.00, and created a Fair Fund, pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, so the penalty could be distributed to harmed investors (the “Robinhood Fair Fund” or “Fair Fund”).

The Fair Fund includes the $65,000,000.00 paid by the Respondent.  The Fair Fund has been deposited in an interest-bearing account at the United States Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Services (“BFS”).

On February 4, 2021, the Commission appointed Miller Kaplan Arase LLP as the tax administrator (“Tax Administrator”) of the Robinhood Fair Fund. On April 16, 2021, the Commission appointed JND Legal Administration (“JND”) as fund administrator (“Fund Administrator”) and set the bond at $65,000,000.00, in accordance with Rule 1105(c) of the Commission’s Rules on Fair Fund and Disgorgement Plans. You can review and download the Orders as well as other important documents relating to the Fair Fund from the "Important Documents" tab of this website or request a copy from the Fund Administrator.

The SEC developed this proposed distribution plan (the “Proposed Plan”) jointly with the Fund Administrator and the Tax Administrator, in accordance with practices and procedures customary in Fair Fund administrations. The Proposed Plan governs the administration and distribution of the Fair Fund, and sets forth the method and procedures for distributing the assets of the Fair Fund to investors harmed by the conduct alleged in the Cease-and-Desist Proceeding. On August 6, 2021 the Proposed Plan was approved.

There will be no claims process.  The Fund Administrator, working with the SEC, will identify Eligible Investors and determine distribution payments from information obtained by the SEC staff during its investigation and otherwise.  Eligible Investors will simply need to complete and timely submit the appropriate IRS Form W-9 or W-8 series.

Any individual or entity, or their lawful successors, who traded with Robinhood Financial, LLC, during the period from the July 1, 2016  to June 30, 2019, who is not an Excluded Party, and who is determined by the Fund Administrator to be eligible for a distribution under the Approved Plan.

Using information collected by the Commission staff during the investigation, the distributable amount for each Eligible Investor is calculated as the harm suffered by each Eligible Investor due to negatively affected execution prices.

Additional information can be found by visiting the “Important Documents” tab visible at the top of this webpage and by contacting the Fund Administrator toll-free at 1-833-961-3963; by emailing Info@RobinhoodFinancialFairFund.com; or by mailing a letter to:

Robinhood Financial Fair Fund
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91404
Seattle, WA 98111