SEC subpoenas Jay-Z to testify in probe of clothing brand

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking an order forcing rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, to comply with a subpoena for testimony, the agency announced Thursday.

The SEC asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to force Carter to testify in the agency’s probe of Iconix Brand Group, which acquired the rapper’s Rocawear clothing brand in 2007.

The SEC said it subpoenaed Carter in November 2017 and February 2018, and that he did not comply with the order to testify before the agency nor agreed to do so in the future.

Securities watchdogs are probing whether Iconix had violated trading laws related to financial reporting. The SEC said Iconix had maintained relationships with Carter related to the Rocawear brand, which it had written down by close to $203 million over the past two years.

Carter sold Rocawear to Iconix for $204 million in 2007, but maintained significant creative control of the brand.