Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust (MIMBT) has agreed to pay $79.8 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning the overvaluation of approximately 4,900 illiquid collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) across 20 advisory accounts, including 11 retail mutual funds. The SEC found that MIMBT improperly marked these CMOs at inflated prices, misrepresenting the performance of client accounts from January 2017 to April 2021. Additionally, the firm engaged in hundreds of cross trades that favored certain clients, attempting to mitigate losses for redeeming investors rather than selling the inflated assets on the market. The SEC emphasized that MIMBT's reliance on a third-party pricing service does not absolve it of the responsibility to accurately value assets. Macquarie has stated it is taking steps to remediate the issues and reinforce its commitment to integrity and accountability in its operations.