Following their initial warnings about ICOs and the still significant reach of the US securities laws, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against two organizers of a $15 million initial coin offering (ICO). According to reports:
Two Quebec-based [traders], along with a firm called PlexCorp, have been charged with violating U.S. securities laws and defrauding investors, according to a new filing dated Dec. 1. The agency also obtained an emergency asset order, citing the movements of the ICO funds – estimated to constitute $15 million “from thousands of investors” – into different accounts.
Among the red flags: an absence of registration and promises of 13-fold increase in profits. The charges were filed by the SEC’s Cyber Unit, an enforcement arm created in September in part to more closely police ICOs, among other areas.