Altcoin News: SEC Fined Crypto-Portal ICO Rating With $269,000

August 21, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday that ICO Rating has agreed to pay $268,998 as part of the settlement of the allegations.

The allegations are related to the fact that ICO Rating allegedly avoided disclosing information regarding payments that it received from issuers for coverage of digital securities offers. In its publication, the agency indicates that ICO Rating is a Russian entity.

As the SEC found out, from December 2017 to July 2018, ICO Rating published research reports and ratings of digital assets on the blockchain, including “tokens” or “coins” that were securities. According to the publication, the amount received by ICO Rating for the indicated period amounted to $100,572.

“ICO Rating billed itself as “a rating agency that issues independent analytical research,” and stated that its mission is “to help the market achieve the necessary standards of quality, transparency and reliability. However, ICO Rating failed to disclose that it was paid by certain issuers whose ICO offerings it rated,” the regulator writes.

The SEC also notes that a significant portion of ICO Rating traffic came from visitors from the United States, all content was published in English, and all amounts were in dollars. In addition, portal employees attended conferences in the United States, while themself didn’t take any measures to restrict access to their site and social media accounts for American users.

“The securities laws require promoters, including both people and entities, to disclose compensation they receive for touting investments so that potential investors are aware they are viewing a paid promotional item,” said Melissa Hodgman, Associate Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “This requirement applies regardless of whether the securities being touted are issued using traditional certificates or on the blockchain.”

The SEC found that ICO Rating violated the provisions of section 17 of the Securities Act of 1933.

ICO Rating didn't admit and didn’t reject their guilt and promised to continue not to violate these provisions of the law. $100,572 was withheld from the portal for illegally appropriated funds, $6,426 was recovered as a percentage for the period until the decision was made, and $162,000 as a civil sanction.

Author: Marko Vidrih