Digital World Acquisition Corp.
"DWAC has received certain preliminary, fact-finding inquiries from regulatory authorities, with which it is cooperating," the company wrote in an 8-K filing with the SEC. "Specifically, in late October and in early November 2021, DWAC received a request for information from FINRA, surrounding events (specifically, a review of trading) that preceded the public announcement of the October 20, 2021 Merger Agreement."
8-K filings are required within four business days of any "major events that shareholders should know about." The filing was submitted two days after the DWAC and Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) reached a merger agreement.
The filing states that the investigators were seeking information on "meetings of DWAC's Board of Directors, policies and procedures relating to trading, the identification of banking, telephone, and email addresses, the identities of certain investors, and certain documents and communications between DWAC and TMTG." The filing also states that investigations into the DWAC aren't an indication of wrongdoing.
"According to FINRA's request, the inquiry should not be construed as an indication that FINRA has determined that any violations of Nasdaq rules or federal securities laws have occurred, nor as a reflection upon the merits of the securities involved or upon any person who affected transactions in such securities."
Some have expressed skepticism as to whether or not investors were made aware of the SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) investigations into DWAC prior to committing funds to the private investment in public equity group, or PIPE, for DWAC.
Following the company's announcement of the federal investigations, Senator Elizabeth Warren took to Twitter
"Nobody is above the law-and there may have been serious violations of securities laws during the proposed merger of Digital World Acquisition Corp & Trump's media company," Warren tweeted.
In mid-November, Warren asked the SEC to look into the DWAC and TMTG, but the 8-K filing states that the regulators' requests for information came before Warren's call to action.
Trump's social media company plans on creating a platform, TRUTH Social, to rival Twitter and Facebook