The SEC is investigating whether auto manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc. breached securities law for the way they handled information related to a fatal crash that involved a Tesla electric car in May.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
The May 7 accident killed the driver, Joshua Brown, a 40-year-old Tesla owner who collided with an 18-wheel semi-truck that pulled in front of him on a Florida highway.
Tesla alerted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. car-safety regulator, to the crash and investigated to determine whether the car was using the company’s Autopilot system, which lets cars drive themselves under certain circumstances. But Tesla didn’t disclose the crash to investors in a securities filing.
The SEC is scrutinizing whether Tesla should have disclosed the accident as a “material” event, or a development a reasonable investor would consider important, according to the person familiar with the matter. The SEC’s inquiry is in a very early stage and may not lead to any enforcement action by regulators, the person said.
A company spokeswoman said Tesla has not received any formal communication from the SEC regarding the issue.
