COMPANIES, INDIVIDUALS ORDERED TO PAY $750,000 FOR FOREX FRAUD AND VIOLATING CFTC REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
April 9, 2013

CFTC Orders Florida-based Forex Global Solutions Inc., Forex Global Solutions Ltd., Barry Sendach, and Joshua Kershner to Pay $750,000 for Foreign Currency (Forex) Fraud and Violating CFTC Registration Requirements

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Barry Sendach of Boca Raton, Fla., Joshua Kershner of Boynton Beach, Fla., and their Boca Raton-based companies, Forex Global Solutions Inc. and Forex Global Solutions Ltd. (together, Forex Global), for fraudulently soliciting customers to trade foreign currency (forex) and violating CFTC registration requirements. The Order requires Forex Global, Sendach, and Kershner, jointly and severally, to pay a $750,000 civil monetary penalty and imposes permanent trading and registration bans against them.

The CFTC Order finds that since October 18, 2010, Forex Global fraudulently solicited customers to open off-exchange forex trading accounts and grant discretionary trading authority over those accounts to Forex Global. In its solicitations, Forex Global published false historical performance returns on its website and in its solicitation emails and failed to disclose that it calculated the performance returns inaccurately, including by reflecting only one of the three fees that customers are charged, the Order finds.

The Order also finds that since October 18, 2010, Forex Global, Sendach, and Kershner failed to register with the CFTC as required under comprehensive new CFTC forex rules that became effective on that date.

Under those rules — which are designed to protect individual investors that buy forex contracts from or sell forex contracts to forex firms — entities that obtain or exercise discretionary trading authority over forex trading accounts must be registered with the CFTC as Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs), and entities that solicit or accept forex trades must be registered with the CFTC as Introducing Brokers (IBs). The CFTC forex rules also require certain persons associated with a CTA or IB to be registered as Associated Persons (APs) of the CTA or IB. The Order finds that Forex Global violated those rules by acting as a CTA and IB without registering in those capacities, and further finds that Sendach and Kershner violated those rules by acting as APs of Forex Global without registering as APs.

The CFTC Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action are Stephanie Reinhart, Joseph Patrick, Susan Gradman, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard Wagner.

CFTC Customer Protection Information

The CFTC strongly urges members of the public to check with the National Futures Association (NFA) whether a company is registered before investing funds. If a company is not registered, an investor should be wary of providing funds to that company.