INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Elon Musk called the regulator the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission" on Twitter after the settlement.Chief Executive Elon Musk has never
sought pre-approval for a single tweet about Tesla Inc since striking a court-approved deal about how to communicate important information
down on the government's demand to find the Tesla CEO in contempt of a previous fraud settlement that required him to have the company
pre-approve any tweets that could materially impact the automaker.The ongoing public battle between Tesla's chief executive and the SEC
piles pressure on Musk, the public face of Tesla, who is struggling to make the company profitable after cutting the price of its Model 3
sedan to $35,000.The SEC said a Feb.19 tweet that Musk sent to his more than 24 million Twitter followers claiming the electric
vehicle-maker would build around 500,000 cars in 2019 was "a blatant violation" of the agreement.The SEC asked Tesla in late February
whether any of Musk's tweets had been pre-approved since that policy was adopted, according to the filing in federal court in
Manhattan.Tesla responded, after more than two weeks, to say simply: "No.""It is therefore stunning to learn that, at the time of filing of
the instant motion, Musk had not sought pre-approval for a single one of the numerous tweets about Tesla he published in the months since
the court-ordered pre-approval policy went into effect," the SEC said in the filing.The regulator last month alleged that Musk had violated
a September settlement of fraud charges by tweeting material information about Tesla without pre-approval from the company.In response, Musk
had argued that his "single, immaterial" tweet was in compliance with the settlement, and that the SEC's push to find him in contempt
infringed on his free speech.Lawyers for Musk said the tweet complied with the company's communication policy for senior executives and was
a "proud and optimistic restatement of publicly disclosed information."The SEC said in Monday's filing that the pre-approval policy agreed
in the settlement was designed to include a wide variety of his comments, not just those that were deemed material by the regulator's
standards.The fraud settlement between Musk, Tesla and the SEC resolved a lawsuit brought by the regulator over claims Musk made on Twitter
in August that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share
The SEC called those tweets "false and misleading" and a go-private deal never materialized.As part of that settlement, Musk stepped down as
the company's chairman and he and Tesla agreed to pay $20 million each in fines.Tesla has backed off a plan to close all its U.S
stores and said it will instead raise prices of its higher-end vehicles by about 3 percent on average
Last week, Tesla unveiled its Model Y crossover SUV, targeted to begin production in 2020.Musk called the regulator the "Shortseller
Enrichment Commission" on Twitter after the settlement, and tweeted that "something is broken with SEC oversight" just one day after the
agency started pursuing the contempt order.Legal experts have said the SEC could pursue multiple avenues, including a higher fine, imposing
further restrictions on Musk's activities or removing him from Tesla's board or helm.Tesla published a new communications policy in December
for senior executives as part of the settlement
It called for Tesla's general counsel and a newly designated in-house securities law attorney to pre-approve any written statements about
Tesla that could be material.A disclosure controls committee, made up of board members Brad Buss, Antonio Gracias and James Murdoch, was
tasked with overseeing compliance with the new policy.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent
staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)Get the latest election news, live updates and election schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019
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