National Futures Association

For Immediate Release September 20, 2019 For more information contact: Kristen Scaletta, 312-781-7860, kscaletta@nfa.futures.org Karen Wuertz, 312-781-1335, kwuertz@nfa.futures.org NFA bars former Fort Lauderdale, Fla. introducing broker and commodity trading advisor Fortress Capital, Inc. and its former sole principal George Ashkar from membership for five years September 20, Chicago—NFA has barred Fortress Capital, Inc. (Fortress), a former NFA Member introducing broker, commodity trading advisor and forex firm located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and its former sole principal and associated person George Ashkar from membership for five years. The Decision, issued by an NFA Hearing Panel, is based on a Complaint issued by NFA's Business Conduct Committee. The Hearing Panel found that Fortress failed to maintain adequate books and records by failing to properly record assets and liabilities and repeatedly submitting inaccurate financial statements and net capital calculations to NFA. More importantly, the Panel also concluded that Fortress failed to maintain minimum adjusted net capital. The Hearing Panel also found that Fortress used misleading and deceptive promotional material. Finally, the Hearing Panel found that Fortress and Ashkar failed to adequately supervise Fortress' use of promotional material and failed to have adequate procedures addressing ethics training, cybersecurity, forex operations and customer risk disclosures. For more information, read the Complaint and Decision.