The SEC "announced a preliminary settlement in principle with RBC Capital Markets Corp. (RBC) that would provide individual investors, small businesses, small nonprofits, charities and religious organizations the opportunity to sell back to RBC all of the auction rate securities (ARS) they purchased from RBC before the ARS market collapsed in February 2008."

In the Complaint, the SEC stated that: "This is a case in which RBC failed properly to disclose in communication with customers the increasing risks associated with auction rate securities ('ARS') that RBC underwrote, marketed and sold.... Through its employees and marketing materials, RBC misrepresented to many of its customers that ARS were safe, highly-liquid investments that were substitutes for cash or money-market funds. As a result, number customers invested funds in ARS through RBC that they needed or expected to have available on a short-term basis." The SEC alleged that: "During the fall of 2007 and early 2008, deteriorating market conditions and falling customer demand caused RBS, in order to prevent auction failures, to acquire much greater amounts of ARS in the auctions it managed, which in turn caused RBC's inventory of ARS to increase significantly. Consequently, during this time period, RBC considered declining to place bids for its own account at ARS auctions it managed and knew that the risk of failed auctions had materially increased. Despite RBC being aware of these material facts, RBC did not disclose them to customers."

On June 4, 2009, Federal District Judge Loretta A. Preska entered final judgment against RBC Capital Markets Corporation pursuant to the consent of RBC Capital Markets Corporation.

On June 30, 2010, the SEC published a litigation release regarding this matter. The SEC announced that: "three financial firms that settled the Commission's auction rate securities (ARS) charges against them have satisfied their obligations under their respective settlements and that more than $26 billion has been returned to their ARS customers."