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The original was posted on /r/exmormon by /u/Entire-Ice9743 on 2025-05-06 14:55:10+00:00.

There still seem to be misconceptions about what took place regarding the church and the findings from the SEC investigation. I’m not going to get into what parts are legal/illegal or the details of Section 13(f) and why following these laws are important to public trust in the market.

I just want to show how “the LDS Church’s investment manager, with the Church’s knowledge, went to great lengths to avoid disclosing the Church’s investments.” – SEC Director of Enforcement

Here are some bullet points that show the great length the church went to hide their wealth: (These are all from the SEC cease-and-desist order. Link below)

·         By 1998 the church was required to file form 13F. This would disclose the wealth of the church.

·         In 2001, fearing this disclosure would lead to negative consequences due to the size of the Church’s portfolio, the church created the first of about a dozen LLCs and filed forms 13F under the new LLCs names. The first presidency approved this approach.

·         The church set up out of state addresses for the new LLCs even though no business was being done at those locations. They set up phone numbers that would go to voicemail. They named church employees to be the “managers” even though they had no discretion over investments. In other words, shell company.

·         The church set up the second LLC because they feared the public might link the first LLC to the church since the person signing the form 13F filings was listed in a public directory as a church employee.

·         Senior leadership in the church approved the new LLC and advised “better care be taken to ensure that neither the ‘Street’ nor the media could connect the new entity to Ensign Peak.”

·         After several years, the church’s portfolio became so disgustingly large they feared it would attract unwanted attention. Cue more shell companies.

·         A few years later, the church became aware that a third party appeared to have connected the holdings of some LLCs back to the church. Church senior leadership approved “gradually and carefully adapting Ensign Peak’s corporate structure to strengthen the portfolio’s confidentiality.” Cue more shell companies.

·          Every quarter each LLC had to file a form 13F with a signature from the previously mentioned fake managers. The church would choose an employee with a common name to be the “manager” to make it more difficult to trace this employee back to the church.

·         The church required “managers” to misstate that they were signing the form 13F from the location on the signature page (i.e. Delaware, California) when they were all in fact located in Salt Lake.

·         The church would present only the signature page to the “managers”. They could not even see the entire document that they were signing.

·         Two church internal audits of Ensign Peak highlighted the risks of the LLC structure, but the church carried on anyway.

·          Two “managers” resigned their roles, voicing concerns about what they had been asked to do. Rather than do the right thing, the church plugged two new “managers” in their place.

·         After the SEC went public, the church issued a statement and a Q&A where they admitted no wrongdoing, obfuscated facts, and pointed fingers at unnamed lawyers.

The church did not make any mistakes here. These were calculated and deliberate actions to deceive millions of members who give so much money and so much time to the church. These are not the actions of one who is honest in their dealings with their fellow man. For me, this represented a very real betrayal and was the beginning of my faith deconstruction.

SEC Cease-and-desist order:

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-96951.pdf