The Israeli Security Authority (ISA) revealed today that it issued an enforcement action against a firm for the first time since the passing of new regulations that ban binary options and require licensing from FX brokers. D.G.I. Media Ltd has been fined a total of NIS 500,000 (over $125,000) and its owner and CEO is now banned from holding a similar position for two years.
According to the Settlement agreement, D.G.I. Media Ltd admitted operating after the new regulations passed without an ISA Trade Arena License.Gabriel Lavie, the owner and CEO of the firm, received a personal fine of NIS 300,000, out of the NIS 500,000.
The official facts in the case state that the firm offered binary options from at least December 21, 2014 until February 11, 2016. It had 700 clients, an average of 450 transactions a day and revenues of $2.5 million a month. It kept operating after the new regulations came into effect on 26 May, 2015, despite knowing that it was illegal, and only applied for a license on January 14, 2016.
The ISA considers the fine to be both proportionate and a deterrence against other firms operating without a license. The regulator took into account the risks involved for clients in determining the fine, the fact that it operated while knowing that it was against the law and the high profits that it made. Factors that inspired leniency in the case were that D.G.I. Media Ltd admitted the facts and signed a settlement agreement at an early stage and thus saved ISA resources, that it returned client funds, and that this is the first verdict of its kind.
