The British Columbia Securities Commission has permanently banned web-based investment fund Genius Funds from selling securities and engaging in investor relations activities.

At a hearing on Wednesday, a BCSC panel permanently banned Genius Funds, also known as Genius Investments, for illegally selling securities through its website and for offering investors a rate of return so high it could not be earned through legal means.

Genius Funds did not attend the hearing.

After receiving a tip from a financial institution in early February, the BCSC’s executive director immediately stopped Genius Funds from selling its securities until the hearing was held. Genius Funds had solicited two B.C. investors: one wired $25,000 to the company; the other did not.

Genius Funds claimed to be based in Cyprus. Following the executive director’s temporary order, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission warned investors that it had never authorized Genius Funds and did not regulate it.

Following the BCSC’s lead, other Canadian regulators, including the New Brunswick Securities Commission and the Alberta Securities Commission, also temporarily ordered Genius Funds to stop selling its securities and issued investor alerts.

Genius Funds is on the BCSC’s Investment Caution list.

IE