Binary options firm EZTD owes more than $1m in unpaid penalties, SEC estimates

Maria Nikolova

The US regulator is seeking to compel the firm to pay the full civil monetary penalty and disgorgement imposed upon it back in 2016.

An action brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against binary options firm EZTD continues at the Delaware District Court, as the US regulator is seeking to compel the entity to pay the full amount of the penalties imposed on it back in 2016.

According to the latest Court filings, seen by FinanceFeeds, the SEC has submitted a proposed consent judgment. Put bluntly, EZTD (the respondent in this case) consents to the entry of a judgment. The document has been signed by EZTD Director Zvi Riterband.

Importantly, the SEC quantifies the sum still owed by EZTD. According to the estimates included in the proposed consent judgment, EZTD has only paid $738,980 toward its obligation as of May 21, 2019, and owes $1,034,569.14 plus interest. Once the due payments are made, the Commission will provide EZTD with a full satisfaction of judgment.

EZTD is a registered Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in Tel Aviv, Israel and Nicosia, Cyprus, the SEC explains.

The penalty stems from a matter involving EZTD’s offers and sales of binary options to US customers, between June 2011 and August 2014, through EZTD’s two online trading platforms, eztrader.com and globaloption.com. The binary options that were the subject of these offers and sales were over the-counter, cash-settled option contracts. They did not give the holder the right to purchase or sell the underlying assets and their time duration was limited. These binary options constituted securities under the federal securities laws.

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