NEW YORK The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said it has charged five investment adviser firms for failing to meet requirements related to the safekeeping of client assets.

The violations were related to rules for custody of client assets and included issues such as failing to conduct required audits and deliver audited financial statements to investors in a timely manner, the SEC said in a statement.

The firms - Lloyd George Management (HK) Ltd, Bluestone Capital Management LLC, the Eideard Group, Disruptive Technology Advisers LLC, and Apex Financial Advisors Inc - did not admit or deny the SEC's findings.

Disruptive Technology agreed to pay a civil penalty of $225,000, the SEC said. The Eideard Group agreed to pay $80,000. Bluestone Capital agreed to pay $75,000. Lloyd George agreed to pay a penalty of $50,000. Lawyers for those firms did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Apex, which declined to comment when called for comment, agreed to pay $130,000.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick Zieminski)