North Dakota issues Cease Order to Union Bank Payment Coin

The securities commissioner Karen Tyler has suggested that Union Bank Payment Coin promoted potentially fraudulent unregistered securities via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). This came out after some investigations done by North Dakota Securities Department’s ICO Task Force, which is responsible of identifying ICOs and other crypto-related investments that pose a risk to investors in the Peace Garden State. She also mentioned that the Union Bank Payment Coin is attempting to pass off as an initiative of Liechtenstein’s Union Bank AG, which earlier this year announced plans to issue its own security tokens and a stablecoin pegged to the Swiss Franc.

However, Union Bank AG is regulated and fully licensed by Liechtenstein’s financial regulator, the Financial Market Authority (FMA), while Union Bank Payment Coin appears to be a Russian entity, as the internet protocol address of its website is based in Russia. The scammer had set up a website, www.unionbankag-invest.com, which had the feel and appearance of being the legitimate bank’s website in order to recruit investors.