By Michael Dicke and Vincent Barredo ( March 20, 2018, 12:49 PM EDT) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought an action against San Francisco-based Credit Karma on March 12 for issuing employee stock options without a valid registration exemption because the issuer failed to satisfy the requirements of Securities Act Rule 701. In a settled proceeding, the SEC imposed a $160,000 penalty, finding that although the company was aware of the requirements of Rule 701, it nevertheless failed to provide detailed financial information and risk disclosures to its employees as required by the rule. This is the first enforcement action to result from a sweeping SEC investigation into the Rule 701 option-granting practices of late-stage private companies begun in July 2016....