The Securities Commission of The Bahamas

This NOTICE is issued by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (“the Commission”) pursuant to its authority under the Securities Industry Act, 2011, the Investment Funds Act, 2019, the Financial and Corporate Service Providers Act, 2020 and the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act, 2020 (the Acts). It has come to the attention of the Commission that entities referred to as KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL GmbH, KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL, KARATBIT FOUNDATION, KARATBARS BAHAMAS, KARATBIT may be conducting activities that are either registrable/licensable or illegal under one or more of the Acts. The Commission hereby advises the public that none of these entities or their agents/representatives are registered with/licensed by the Commission. Additionally, none of the aforementioned entities have made the prerequisite applications to be registered/licenced by the Commission. Therefore, any registrable/licensable activity conducted, in or from The Bahamas, by these entities and agents/representatives is in violation of one or more of the Acts. If any of these entities or their agents/representatives claims to be legally authorized or licenced to engage in any aspect of the securities industry in or from The Bahamas, they have committed an offence and are liable for criminal prosecution and/or regulatory sanctions under the relevant laws of The Bahamas. BACKGROUND The Commission is advised that KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL GmbH, KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL, KARATBIT FOUNDATION, KARATBARS BAHAMAS, KARATBIT has conducted several meetings in The Bahamas for members of the general public that have been labeled as investment seminars. Members are invited to participate via conference, social media, and word of mouth. In addition, members are asked to recruit persons to join the unregistered program. The aforementioned entities are allegedly promoting “Karatbar activities”, with the promise of the possibility of earning large payouts. As an incentive to the 2 public to pay into this scheme and recruit additional people, Karatbars promises to provide a precious metal, namely a small gold bullion to members of the public. The Commission cannot confirm the veracity of this claim. The Commission has determined that KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL GmbH, KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL, KARATBIT FOUNDATION, KARATBARS BAHAMAS, KARATBIT is a multi-level marketing entity using several websites including:  https://www.karatbars.com/en/  https://www.facebook.com/karatbarsinternationalofficial/  https://www.instagram.com/karatbars.official/?igshid=nwt5ntb5wecz&hl=en  https://www.linkedin.com/company/karatbars-international-gmbh  support@karatbars.com  support@karatpay.net OTHER WARNINGS The Commission further advises the public of the warning notices issued by foreign regulators concerning KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL GmbH, KARATBARS INTERNATIONAL, KARATBIT FOUNDATION, KARATBARS BAHAMAS, and KARATBIT:  Financial Markets Authority (FMA) New Zealand – 18 December 2020  Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), South Africa – 11 November 2019  BaFin (German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) – 21 October 2019  Bank of Namibia (BoN) – 3 May 2019  Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), Quebec – 1 May 2014  British Columbia Securities Commission – 20 March 2014 Individuals currently (or desirous of) conducting business with the aforementioned entities and/or their agents/representatives, should be cognizant that they are doing so with entities and/or agents who are not authorized or regulated by the Commission. Members of the public should exercise extreme caution in considering engagement in securities related activities with the aforementioned entities or their agents/representatives. Listings of the Commission’s registrants and licensees authorized to engage in securities, investment funds and financial and corporate service businesses, in or from The Bahamas can be found on the Commission’s website at https://www.scb.gov.bs/registrant-licensee-search/. Further, anyone who has a complaint and/or information pertaining to the aforementioned entities should contact: Mr. Gawaine Ward Senior Manager Enforcement Department Securities Commission of The Bahamas E-mail: info@scb.gov.bs or enfdept@scb.gov.bs .