EXHIBIT 4

Case 1:20-cv-21254-BB Document 48-4 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/09/2021 Page 1 of 4
From: Smith, Margaret A. (TM)

To: djarvis@alpine-securities.com

Cc: TradingAndMarkets

Subject: FW: Inquiry

Date: Wednesday, January 03, 2018 11:07:00 AM

Mr. Jarvis,

The Exam Hotline forwarded your email to us for response.

The Commission staff generally cannot comment on Enforcement Actions other than to provide

information already made public by the Commission.

If there is a specific fact pattern you are seeking guidance on, you may send us a request for a noaction letter. Procedures applicable to requests for no-action and interpretive letters are available in

Securities Act Release No. 6269 (http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/33-6269.pdf ).

The Division of Trading and Markets

From: David Jarvis [mailto:djarvis@alpine-securities.com] 

Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2018 8:54 AM

To: Exam Hotline

Subject: RE: Inquiry

Importance: High

I’m hopeful that the delay in response to the below inquiry was derivative of the holidays and folks

vacation schedules. I look forward to a meaningful response.

Thank you.

DHJ

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From: David Jarvis 

Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 12:03 PM

To: 'examhotline@sec.gov' <examhotline@sec.gov>

Subject: Inquiry

I hope y’all are doing well this holiday season. My inquiry starts with an explanation for clarity’s

Case 1:20-cv-21254-BB Document 48-4 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/09/2021 Page 2 of 4
sake.

Fairly recently the Commission filed an action against Microcap Equity Group and an individual that

can be found here: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2017/comp23992.pdf

The gravamen of the Complaint can be found in numerical paragraph 2. It alleges: Between January

2013 and July 2016, Defendants, as part of a regular business, engaged in the buying and selling of

securities for Defendants’ own accounts. Defendants purchased from debtholders the aged debts of

various microcap issuers of securities. Contemporaneously, and as part of their purchase of the aged

debt, Defendants obtained

agreements with the issuers permitting Defendants to, at their discretion, convert the debt into

shares of the issuers’ common stock. Defendants deposited these shares (once converted from the

debt) into their brokerage accounts and sold significant numbers of them into the market.

Finally, Defendants deposited the net proceeds from the stock sales into their bank accounts.

Generally speaking, the Defendants acquired aged convertible debt or simply aged where the issuer

agreed to conversion terms because it could not pay the obligation. Thereafter, Defendants

converted the debt and sold the positions. In a scheduled conference call with the Staff Attorneys

who brought this action they would not provide us guidance in terms of our inquiries and instead

directed us to OCIE. 

What we as an organization are trying to understand is whether or not the Staff and/or the

Commission is deeming the acquisition of third party debt, conversion of that debt, and sale into the

public marketplace a business model (if you will) that requires registration as a dealer? We are

aware that the definition of dealer excludes routine trading transactions for ones own account as

well as other potentially relevant carve outs. Here we are simply trying to gain our regulators

posture.

Thank you very much.

David H . Jarvis

Special Counsel

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error, please delete this message, along with any attachments, from your computer. Thank

you.

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Case 1:20-cv-21254-BB Document 48-4 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/09/2021 Page 3 of 4
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Case 1:20-cv-21254-BB Document 48-4 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/09/2021 Page 4 of 4