Fisker Is Under Investigation By The Feds

In a filing on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it objected to EV startup Fisker's current liquidation plan.

Henrik Fisker with the Fisker Ocean electric SUV

Tim Levin

By: Tim Levin

Oct 4, 2024 at 5:08pm ET

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Fisker faces an investigation from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
We don't know exactly what the agency is looking into.
It's the latest wrinkle in the startup automaker's long bankruptcy saga.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating bankrupt EV startup Fisker, the regulatory agency said in a filing on Friday.

After months of back and forth, Fisker and its creditors recently arrived at a liquidation plan, which is up for final approval on October 9. On Friday, the SEC filed an objection to the plan in U.S. bankruptcy court, wherein it said it is investigating Fisker.

TechCrunch first reported on the filing and the revelations about the SEC's investigation on Friday.

"The Commission is currently investigating whether the debtors, and others, may have violated the federal securities laws in connection with Fisker’s prepetition activities," the SEC said. (Prepetition refers to the period before filing for bankruptcy.)

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The SEC also said the plan needs to better protect the agency's ability to conduct its investigation. It proposed adding language requiring Fisker to preserve its corporate records until either the bankruptcy court or the SEC says otherwise.

"[T]he Plan must contain language ... to adequately preserve the Commission’s police and regulatory powers with respect to its pending investigation (including the preservation and production of corporate records) and possible future actions alleging violations of the federal securities laws," the agency said in Friday's filing.

Fisker Ocean Factory

Fisker officials did not return a request for comment. An SEC spokesperson told InsideEVs that the body "does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation."

The agency did not specify what exactly it's looking into, but noted that it "has an ongoing police and regulatory interest in the Debtors’ books and records"—the debtors being Fisker Inc. and affiliated companies. It also said it has "outstanding investigative subpoenas and may have the need to request or subpoena additional documents in the future relating to its ongoing investigation."

Fisker disclosed back in August that it had received a subpoena from the commission.

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Fisker, a California-based EV firm, launched its first and only vehicle, the Ocean crossover, in the summer of 2023. It struggled to ramp up sales and iron out bugs in the car, which led to several recalls. Fisker filed for bankruptcy in June, after producing some 10,000 Oceans through Magna, a contract manufacturer. It struck a deal to sell its remaining inventory of roughly 3,000 vehicles to a leasing company in New York.

Contact the author: tim.levin@insideevs.com