SEC bars Ofer Ababaneh from investment industry

UN ITE D STA TES OF AM ERIC A Be for e t he SEC UR ITI ES AND EXC HA NG E C OMM ISSI ON IN VES TME NT AD VISE RS AC T O F 1 940 Re lea se No. 69 49 / F eb ruar y 27, 2 026 AD MIN IST RA TIVE PR OCE ED ING Fil e No. 3 - 22603 In the M att er of OFE R ABAR BA NE L, Re spo nde nt. ORD ER IN STI TUT ING AD MIN IST RA TIVE PR OCE ED ING S PU RSUA NT TO SE CTI ON 20 3(f) O F T HE IN VES TME NT AD VISE RS AC T O F 1 940, MA KIN G F IND IN GS, AN D IM PO SIN G REM ED IAL SA NCT ION S I. Th e Sec urit ie s a nd E xch ang e Co mmi ssi on (“C ommi ssi on”) dee ms it app ropr ia te and in t he pub li c inte re st tha t p ub lic a dm ini st rat ive pr oce ed ings be, a nd her eb y ar e, in stit ute d pur sua nt to 203 (f) of t he I nv es tme nt A dv ise rs Ac t of 1 940 (“ Adv ise rs Act ”) aga in st O fer A bar bane l (“ Abar ba ne l,” or “Re sp ond en t”). II. In an tic ipa tio n of the in stit uti on of t hese p roce e dings, Res po nde nt h as su bmi tted an Of fe r of Se tt leme nt (t he “Off er”) w hi ch the C omm issi on ha s de ter mi ned to ac ce pt. So lel y f or the pur po se of th ese pr ocee din gs an d a ny othe r pr oceed in gs bro ug ht by or on beha lf of the Com mis sio n, o r to w hic h th e Co mmi ssi on is a par ty, Re sp onde nt ad mit s t he C omm iss io n’ s jur is dic ti on o ver h im an d the s ubje c t ma tte r of these p roc ee ding s, an d the find ing s con ta ine d i n pa rag rap h I II.2 b el ow, and c onse nt s to t he en try of t hi s O rde r I ns tit ut ing Adm ini str at ive Pro ce ed ings Pu rs uan t T o Se ct ion 20 3(f) O f T he I n ves tme nt Ad vise rs Ac t o f 1940, Mak ing Fi ndi ng s, A nd I m posi ng Rem ed ial Sa nct io ns (“O rde r”), a s set fo rth be low.

2 III. On th e b as is o f this Or der a nd Res po nde nt’s Of fer, t he Co mmi ss ion fi nds th at: 1. Ab ar ba ne l, ag e 51, i s a c it iz en of I s ra el a nd a n at ur a liz ed U. S. c it iz en. H e ha s re sid ed in Wo o dla n d Hi ll s, Ca li fo rn ia s in ce a t l ea st 201 6. Fr om a t le as t Oc t o be r 201 4 to the pr es en t, Ab ar ba ne l w a s the ow ne r a nd so l e co nt ro l pe rs on f o r Ne w Yo rk A la sk a ET F Ma na ge me nt LL C, a lim it ed li ab il it y co mp an y r eg ist er ed w it h t he S EC a s an i nv es t men t a dv is er f r om ap pr o xi ma te ly Ja nua r y 2 0 15 t o M ar c h 20 19. A ba r ba ne l a l so f or me d an d co n tro l le d tw o mu t ua l fun d s: t he S ta te Fu nd s – Enh an ce d U ltr a - Sho r t D ur at io n M ut ua l F u nd, an o pe n- en d mu tu al f u nd r eg is te re d w ith t he Com mi s si on a s a n i nv es tm en t co mp an y ba se d in N e va da, a nd the I n co me C o lle c ti ng 1 -3 M on th s T Bil ls Mu tu al F un d (t he “ I nc om e Co ll ec ti ng F un d”), a mu tu al f un d re g is te re d in t he C ay ma n I sla nd s. 2. O n Se pte mber 7, 2 02 2, Ab ar bane l pl ed gui lty t o one c oun t of i nve stm en t a dvis er fr aud, in v iol at ion of 15 U. S.C. §§ 80b -6, 80 b-1 7, an d 1 8 U.S. C. § 2 be for e th e Un ite d S ta tes Dis tr ic t Co ur t f or the S outhe rn Di str ict of Ne w Y ork in U nite d Sta tes v. O fer Aba rb ane l, Case No. 21 - CR -53 2. O n Ma y 1 7, 2 023, A barb ane l was se nte nce d to a pr is on term o f 48 mon ths fo llo wed b y tw o year s of s up erv ise d re le as e a nd orde re d to make re st itu tio n i n t he am ou nt of $106,000,000. 3. T he c oun t of t he c r imi nal i nf or mat ion to wh ich Aba rb ane l p led g uil ty a lle ge d, i nte r ali a, th at Ab arba ne l, in vio lat io n of h is f id uci ary d utie s, en ga ged in a sche me to de fra ud in ves tor s an d pr os pec ti ve inve st ors in th e I nc ome Co lle cti ng F un d b y m aki ng f a lse and mi sle ad ing sta te men ts to the m r ega r ding th e I nc ome C olle ct ing Fu nd’ s i nve stme nt s. IV. In vi ew of the f oreg oi ng, th e Com mis sio n d eem s i t a pp rop ria te a nd in th e p ubl ic in ter est to imp os e the san ct ions a gre ed to in Re sp onde nt Aba rba ne l’s Of fer. Ac cor di ngly, it is her eb y ORD ERE D p ur sua nt to Sec ti on 2 03 (f) of t he A d vi se r s A ct t ha t Re spo n de nt A ba rb an el b e, an d h er e by i s ba rre d f rom a ss ocia ti on wit h a ny brok er, d ea ler, inv es tme nt adv ise r, mu nic ipa l secu ri tie s de a ler, mun ic ipa l a dv isor, tran sfe r age nt, or na tio nal ly rec og niz ed sta ti stic al ra tin g o rga niz at io n.

3 An y a ppl ica tio n f or re en try b y the Re spo nde nt wil l b e made t o t he ap pro pria te se lf- re gu lato ry org an iza ti on, or if the re is no ne, to t he Comm issi on by co nta ct ing t he D ivi sion o f En for cem en t’s Of fic e o f Ch ie f Coun se l a t EN F - Ree nt ry@ sec.go v, and w ill be su bje ct to th e ap pli cab le law s and re gu lati on s g over ni ng the re en try pro ce ss. Reen try ma y be c ond it ione d upo n a num be r o f f ac tors, inc lud ing, b ut no t li mit ed t o, c omp lia nc e wit h th e Com mis sio n’ s or de r a nd pa yme nt of an y o r a ll of the fo llo win g: (a) a ny d isgo rge me nt or c iv il pen al tie s o rde re d by a Co ur t ag ai nst the Re sp ond en t in an y a ct ion bro ugh t by t he Com mis si on; (b) a ny disg or gem en t a mou nts or der ed aga in st the Re spon de nt fo r w hich t he Comm iss ion w aiv ed pa yme nt; (c) a ny arb it rat ion aw ard re lat ed to the co ndu ct tha t ser ved a s t he ba sis for th e Com mis sion or der; (d) an y s elf - re gu lato ry org an iza ti on a rbit ra ti on a wa rd to a cu st ome r, w he ther o r n ot re lat ed to the c ondu ct t hat se rve d a s the bas is for t he C omm iss io n o rde r; and (e) a ny re st itu tion o rder b y a se lf-r eg ula tor y or gan iza tio n, wh ethe r or not r ela ted to t he c on duc t th at se rve d a s t he ba sis for t he Com mis si on or der. By th e Com mis sio n. Va nes sa A. Co untr yma n Sec re tar y