The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained a final judgment against defendant Volkswagen Group of America Finance, LLC (VWGOAF). The SEC had accused the company in 2019 of making false and misleading statements when it issued billions of dollars in corporate bonds in 2014 and 2015.

VWGOAF is the financing subsidiary of Volkswagen Group of America.

In a complaint filed by the SEC on March 14, 2019, it was alleged that between April 2014 and May 2015, VWGOAF issued over $8 billion in bonds in the U.S. market while senior executives at Volkswagen were aware that over 500,000 of its cars in the U.S. were emitting pollutants well above legal limits, exposing the company to significant financial and reputational harm.

The complaint stated that VWGOAF made false and misleading statements to investors and underwriters regarding the quality of its cars, environmental compliance, and the financial condition of Volkswagen.

VWGOAF neither admitted nor denied the SEC's allegations but agreed to a final judgment permanently enjoining it from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.

The final judgment ordered VWGOAF to pay a fine of $34.35 million and prejudgment interest of $14.40 million. Following the final judgment, the SEC withdrew its pending litigation against VWGOAF's ultimate parent company, Volkswagen AG, and former CEO of Volkswagen AG, Martin Winterkorn.

Previously, the court had dismissed the SEC's lawsuit against Volkswagen Credit, Inc. on August 20, 2020. With this resolution, all SEC litigation against Volkswagen Group of America has been concluded.