A Cyprus-based company has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission $11 million to settle charges levied in 2013 that it failed to register as a broker-dealer in the United States before soliciting investors to purchase binary options.
The SEC said Wednesday that Banc de Binary Ltd.; its founder, Oren Shabat Laurent; and three affiliates agreed to jointly pay $7.1 million in disgorgement and $1.95 million in penalties to the SEC as well as $2 million in penalties to the CFTC, which filed a parallel action.
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has established a Fair Fund that will be administered by the National Futures Association to compensate harmed investors, according to the SEC.
The SEC filed a complaint in 2013 against Banc de Binary Ltd., Shabat Laurent, and the affiliates alleging that they failed to register the offering before soliciting U.S. customers through YouTube videos, spam e-mails and other Internet advertising.
