Lehi, Utah-based Treasury Vault LLC has been slapped with a $75,000 penalty by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for operating as an unregistered retail foreign exchange dealer, the agency announced Wednesday.
The CFTC’s order details that Treasury Vault began offering off-exchange foreign currency (forex) trading services to U.S. retail customers starting in September 2017. These customers were not considered “eligible contract participants” under CFTC regulations. The transactions specifically involved Vietnamese Dong and Iraqi Dinar.
Treasury Vault allegedly utilized a “reserve program” to finance these forex transactions, acting as the counterparty. However, the CFTC found that actual delivery of the foreign currency did not occur within the standard two-day timeframe. Instead, customers received their forex over a period of at least fifteen days after the transaction date – a clear violation of established regulations.
As part of the settlement, Treasury Vault is required to cease and desist from any further violations of CFTC regulations. The $75,000 civil monetary penalty was significantly reduced due to the company’s cooperation with the Division of Enforcement’s investigation, according to the CFTC.
“This action reinforces that entities wishing to offer forex transactions to retail customers must ensure that they are registered and abide by the laws designed to protect the public,” stated James McDonald, CFTC Director of Enforcement. The CFTC urges potential investors to verify a company’s registration status through the National Futures Association’s (NFA) BASIC system before investing any funds.
The case was led by CFTC staff members Timothy J. Mulreany, Paul G. Hayeck, and George Malas.
Source: CFTC.gov
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