THIRTY-FIVE U.S. AND CANADIAN JURISDICTIONS JOIN EXPANDED SETTLEMENT WITH JOSIP HEIT AND GSB GERMANY

Law firm Quinn Emanuel announces settlement claims process will begin on February 21

NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Regulators in thirty-five U.S. states and Canadian provinces have agreed to settlement terms with GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG (GSB Germany), GSB Germany founder Josip Heit, and certain affiliated companies, brands, and platforms, lawyers for the GSB entities and Mr. Heit announced today.

The civil settlement first announced on September 9, 2024, now includes Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington DC, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Alberta (Canada), and British Columbia (Canada).

No monetary penalties or fines will be imposed as part of the settlement. Instead, Mr. Heit and the GSB entities have agreed to refund all eligible customers in the settling jurisdictions. An independent claims administrator, AlixPartners, LLP, will accept claims from customers to determine eligibility for compensation.

The settlement claims process will begin on February 21, 2025. The claims period will be open for 90 days, until May 22, 2025. All claims must be submitted by May 22, 2025. More information on how to submit a claim is available at https://gsbsettlement.com/. Only residents of the settling U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions are eligible to participate in the settlement claims process.

The settlement will become final upon conclusion of the claims process. The GSB entities and Mr. Heit will consent – without admitting or denying any violations of law or that any product offered by the GSB entities is a security – to cease-and-desist from offering or selling unregistered securities in the settling jurisdictions. The settlement terms do not require the GSB entities or Mr. Heit to make any admissions of fact or law.

The settling jurisdictions also have agreed not to allege fraud or dishonest practices by Mr. Heit or the GSB entities, and any settling jurisdiction that previously alleged fraud or dishonest practices will withdraw, redact, or amend their prior filings to remove those allegations.

"We are pleased to begin the claims process," said Mr. Heit, founder of GSB Germany. "Our community is our priority, and we look forward to finalizing this historic settlement. We will settle on these same terms with any other U.S. or Canadian regulator who wishes to join this resolution.  And we will defend ourselves against any regulator who insists on unfair terms we cannot accept."

"This settlement reflects our clients' commitment to doing right by their community," said Avi Perry and Alex Spiro, partners at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP who served as counsel for Mr. Heit and GSB Germany. "The start of the claims period is an important step toward successfully completing the settlement process and putting this matter to rest."

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a 1000+ lawyer business litigation firm—the largest in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration with 34 global office locations. Surveys of major companies around the world have named it the "most feared" law firm in the world three times. Firm lawyers have tried over 2,500 cases, winning 86% of them. When representing defendants, Quinn Emanuel's trial experience gets better settlements or defense verdicts. When representing plaintiffs, Quinn Emanuel lawyers have won nearly $80 billion in judgments and settlements. Quinn Emanuel has also obtained seven nine-figure jury verdicts, four 10-figure jury verdicts, 51 nine-figure settlements, and 20 10-figure settlements.

Quinn Emanuel has been named the No. 1 "most feared" law firm by The BTI Consulting Group three times in its annual "Most Feared Law Firms in Litigation" guide, in which in-house counsel named 46 firms they "want to steer clear of" when it comes to litigation. The American Lawyer named Quinn Emanuel the top IP litigation firm in the U.S. and the firm as one of the top six commercial litigation firms in the country. The UK legal periodical, The Lawyer named us "International Firm of the Year." Law360 has most recently selected us as having Banking, Class Action, International Arbitration, and Trials "Practice Groups of the Year." Managing IP twice recognized us as having the "Best ITC Litigation Practice" and honored us with the "Patent Contentious West" award. Legal Business has named us "US Law Firm of the Year" three times, and our German offices have twice been named both "IP Litigation Firm of the Year" and "Patent Litigation Firm of the Year" by JUVE, Germany's most prestigious legal publication. Global Investigations Review, a leading legal periodical covering global white-collar investigations, named us the "Most Impressive Investigations Practice of the Year." Global Arbitration Review named us the 3rd best arbitration practice in the world. Global Competition Review named our antitrust and competition practice among the "25 Global Elite," and has included us in their list of the world's top 10 competition litigation practices. www.quinnemanuel.com

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