SEC Charges Hedge Fund With Violations of Market Access Rule (HedgeCo) In the SEC's first enforcement action under the market access rule, which was adopted in 2010 as Rule 15c3-5. The SEC has alleged that hedge fund trader Knight Capital Americas LLC has agreed to pay $12 million to settle charges that it violated the agency's market access rule in connection with the firm's Aug. 1, 2012 trading incident that disrupted the markets. An SEC investigation found that Knight Capital did not have adequate safeguards in place to limit the risks posed by its access to the markets, and failed as a result to prevent the entry of millions of erroneous orders. Knight Capital also failed to conduct adequate reviews of the effectiveness of its controls.