The US SEC settles with the former CFO of smart window maker View

Former chief financial officer, View, settled a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States. The suit claimed that he had negligently allowed View to understate costs of replacing "smart" windows with defective ones.

According to a filing made Wednesday in San Jose federal court, lawyers for Vidul Prakash, and the SEC, reached a principle agreement to end the civil suit, subject to the approval of SEC commissioners. Both sides want to put the case on hold while the approval process is underway.

A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment. Prakash’s lawyers didn't immediately respond to comments. The settlement was announced three weeks after U.S. district judge Beth Labson Freeman dismissed Prakash’s claim that he could not prove the SEC's allegations of anti-fraud and violation of other federal securities laws.

Smart windows are tinted panels that change color with the light. They're common in office buildings. View, according to the SEC, understated its window-related liabilities arising from a defective seal component by $53 millions in 2019 and 2020 by failing to disclose shipping, installation, and manufacturing costs.

Prakash claimed that the SEC couldn't prove he knew, or should have known, View would cover these costs.

View became public in March 2021 through a $1.6billion merger with Cantor Fitzgerald's special purpose acquisition company. It decided to restate financial statements for more than two years and replaced Prakash, the CFO, eight months later.

The Milpitas-based company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 20, 2024, and has agreed to go privately. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, New York Editing Rod Nickel

(source: Reuters)