US Watchdog Sanctioned Tezos

The cryptocurrency project Tezos, which recently has made headlines with $232 million ICO last year was sanctioned by U.S. financial regulator.

The Reuters reported, that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) prohibited Tezo’s co-founder Arthur Breitman from association with broker-dealers for two years and handed him a $20,000 fine over allegations that he made false statements about the project while employed at investment bank Morgan Stanley. Also the report added, that Breitman didn’t admit or regret the allegations.

Approved by the U.S. Congress in 2007, FINRA is a self-regulatory body with oversight of dealers and brokers in the country. Breitman was registered with the agency during his employment in Morgan Stanley from 2014 to 2015, Reuters said.

The regulator confirmed, that Breitman failed in disclosing involvement for Tezos during his time at the bank. He refused a rule mandating, that registered broker-dealers have to notify employers of side businesses for the prospect of bringing financial compensation.

Also Breitman allegedly provided false information when answering questionnaires from his employer over any outside business activities.

The report mentioned, that an attorney for Breitman played down the impact of the sanction on the blockchain network of the company. It comes at a time when the project is still going through close scrutiny in various legal cases.

Starting from last year, when the ICO broke the record, at at least four class action suits have emerged since November 2017 against the firm, alleging it violated U.S. laws by issuing tokens that are in effect unregistered securities.