The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that long-time Bay Street promoter Andrew DeFrancesco has settled civil fraud allegations with U.S. regulators, agreeing to pay more than $3-million in returned profits and fines (all figures U.S.). The Globe's David Milstead writes that the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Mr. DeFrancesco and others, including his former wife, had participated in a fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme in 2018 with the shares of a small Nasdaq-listed tech company called Cool Holdings Inc. Mr. DeFrancesco, who was accused of selling $8-million of Cool Holdings stock, agreed to a ban from serving as a director or officer of a company registered with the SEC. He also agreed to pay $1.03-million of net profits that the SEC said he gained "as a result of the conduct alleged in the complaint," as well as interest on the profits of $242,018 and a civil penalty of $1.73-million. Mr. DeFrancesco must pay the $3.01-million total to the SEC within 30 days. He settled without admitting to or denying the SEC's allegations. In 2017, Mr. DeFrancesco took a shell company with no business operations, named it Cooltech; promotional articles touted ties to Apple and its expansion plans.