Reuters
- The SEC is investigating if the Mormon Church's investment arm complied with rules, per The Journal.
- Ensign Peak Advisors managed assets worth $100 billion in 2019, a whistleblower complaint revealed.
- A church representative told The Journal it worked with regulators and was committed to full compliance.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether the Mormon Church's investment manager has complied with disclosure rules, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The scale of its wealth only became apparent in 2019, when David Nielsen, a former employee of Ensign Peak Advisors, which managed assets worth $100 billion for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), made a whistleblower complaint.
He alleged that Ensign Peak shouldn't have tax-exempt status because it did not engage in any charitable activities. Those claims were denied by church officials who said no tax laws had been breached, according to the newspaper.
The SEC investigation into whether Ensign Park complied with rules about disclosing the assets it managed was at an advanced stage, The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Doug Andersen, an LDS representative, did not confirm or deny the probe but told the publication: "We are always willing to work with government regulators to resolve concerns and are committed to full compliance."
The Church told The Journal in 2020 that the fund was used as a rainy-day account to prepare for the next financial crisis.
However, its $100 billion value in 2019 was twice as large as the endowment for Harvard University and bigger than some sovereign wealth funds, per the report.
On January 31, Nielsen's attorneys gave the Senate Finance Committee a 90-page memo, alleging that Ensign Peak made false statements to the Internal Revenue Service about the scale of its assets and whether it held bank accounts overseas.
Ensign Peak Advisors, the Mormon Church, the SEC and the Senate Finance Committee didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.
Some Mormons also questioned the secrecy of the funds in 2019, according to The Journal, as well as how the money was used and whether they should carry on tithing the church.
Members must give 10% of their annual income to remain in good standing. The LDS website says the funds are used to "build up the Church and to further God's work throughout the world."
SEC rules require managers such as Ensign Peak to disclose holdings in US-listed companies, which The Journal reported were worth about $40 billion. The remainder of its assets were said to be in fixed-income securities, private companies, or funds.