Archives: Brokers

Is UFX Scam or Legit Broker?

UFX is not officially registered with any industry authority to offer trading services, and its performance is not overseen or supervised by anyone. Moreover, the broker was previously listed as a trading scam while investors were warned by its unregulated nature and use of marketing techniques to attract traders. UFX is owned by UFX Global Limited which is an offshore company registered in Vanuatu and claims to be registered with a Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) license.

• The Vanuatu jurisdiction gained its popularity among the investors and business owners in the Forex industry looking to become a regulated broker, yet obtain its status through a simplified process and operate almost without supervision.

What is UFX?

UFX Global Limited is a company incorporated in the Republic of Vanuatu that operates under the trading name UFX Markets or UFX, yet confuses investors with the statement about its offices in Germany, Czech, and UK. UFX is an online trading brokerage specializing in currencies trading, and commodities, stocks, and indices in the form of CFDs. The UFX broker claims it’s providing a secure trading environment as a priority, while all clients' funds are always held in segregated accounts.

• In addition, the broker states numerous industry awards that recognize them as an “FX Broker of the Year” or “Best Trading Platform and Tools”.
• The VFSC regulator does not require strict proof of the company background, nor checks on the implementation of the secure fund management or operation guidelines, does not require regular reporting, and further on never imposes fines in case of fraud operation. You can read more about Forex Trading: Why Avoid Brokers from Vanuatu in our article.

• New Zealand's regulator Financial Markets Authority has issued a warning against UFX:

  "We believe the registration and regulation information claimed on the website is false and misleading. We are concerned that UFX Global Limited could be involved in a scam. It (www.ufx.com) is based overseas with no presence in New Zealand and does not appear to be subject to regulation by an overseas regulator."

UFX in India

UFX does not offer its services in India. Most likely this is because it is not regulated in India, and cannot process payments. Traders from India are blocked from opening an account with UFX.

UFX in the USA

UFX does not accept traders residing in the US at this time.

Deposit & Withdrawal

UFX offers a wide variety of international and local deposit methods, including credit cards, debit cards, Skrill, CashU, Neteller, and Wire Transfer. In order to enjoy all essential services, the required minimum deposit is US$100 for a Micro account. With the leverage of 400:1 (Also read about MEX Exchange's leverage by link), this gives traders control of $200,000 in trading capital. UFX does not charge fees on deposits.

• Withdrawals can only be processed and transferred via the payment method traders used to make their deposit. Withdrawals take 3-10 business days to process. UFX does not charge fees for withdrawals. However, any transfer fees imposed by banks are the trader's responsibility.

Apps

UFX offers both MetaTrader4 (MT4) and the award-winning ParagonEx Web Trader. The ParagonEx trading platform was designed in-house, is recognized as the best in the market, and provides traders with all the advantages of MetaTrader in a very simple and intuitive way. UFX provides a mobile trading platform for the traders' convenience to trade anytime.

UFX Review Conclusion

We strongly advise avoiding offshore brokers like UFX and opening a trading account only with brokers regulated by respected world authorities that comply with the required set of rules and a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and TMGM.

UFX Update 

We found the UFX website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals show up. 

Is Forex Birds Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Forex Birds as it is an offshore unregulated broker. Forex Birds LTD is a fully licensed and Regulated broker governed and supervised by the Saint Vincent Finance Service Authority (FSA).

• The fact is that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an offshore zone, which does register the financial investment firm, but provides very poor if none requirements for the company operation. That means, the broker is not regulated, not overseen, and does not comply with strict international rules that provide protective measures to the traders. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as CVC Markets, AAG Markets, and more. Read more about St. Vincent and the Grenadines regulation by the link.

What is Forex Birds?

Forex Birds claims to be a well-regulated, safe, and secure Forex broker with optimal trading conditions. The broker offers a wide range of solutions to trade CFDs and Forex, commodities, indices, and spot metals. It also provides clients with the leverage of up to 1:100 and user-friendly platforms with useful functionalities. However, there are some concerns about its regulation which we are going to look at in this Forex Birds Review.

• Forex Birds LTD claims to be a registered company from UK company house registration number 1203823. However, Companies House is only the United Kingdom’s registrar of companies, it is not the regulator that approves licenses for the brokers in the UK. And, of course, there is no information about this broker in the UK’s FCA register (Read the FCA-regulated Fortrade Review).
• Moreover, the Spanish regulator CNMV (National Securities Market Commission) has issued a warning against Forex Birds:

“The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (National Securities Market Commission) warns that Forex Birds is not authorized to provide the investment services, which include investment advice, nor to provide the auxiliary in relation to the financial instruments, including, for those purposes, foreign currency transactions.”

Forex Birds in India

Forex Birds allows Indian traders to open accounts and trade. However, Forex Birds has no mention of complying with any Indian regulators on its website. It is also worth mentioning that Forex trading is actually prohibited in India. The broker is not regulated by any regulatory body in India, that’s why money safety may be the issue here.

Forex Birds in the USA

The United States is one of the countries that is not accepted by Forex Birds. As per U.S. law, brokers regulated by CFTC are the only brokers allowed for USA traders. So, except for Forex Birds, you are only permitted to trade with U.S-regulated platforms.

Deposits & Withdrawals

Forex Birds offers four types of trading accounts (Also explore MEXC Global's account types): ECN, Standard, Premium, and Prime. The minimum deposit for the basic ECN account is 100 USD (See ECN Forex Brokers Reviews). The payment options include Visa, Maestro, Bank Transfers, and e-wallets Skrill and Neteller. 

Apps

Forex Birds offers an advanced mobile platform MT4 compatible with most smartphones and tablets. For the ultimate mobile trading experience, you’re invited to download our innovative, free mobile trading apps. Look for Forex Birds Trading on the App Store or on Google Play.

Demo Account

Forex Birds also offers a demo account. The Demo Account is provided to give traders a demonstration of the broker’s trading platform and to offer traders the opportunity to trade on simulated real trading conditions. This further allows the trader to gain more experience prior to trading with real funds and facing actual risk. Traders may test their trading strategies and become familiar with the trading platform at their own pace.

Forex Birds Review Conclusion

Overall, there are many questions in regards to the trust of the Forex Birds company services and the manner they do operate the online trading itself. We strongly advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities that comply with the required set of rules and have a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as AvaTrade and XM.com.

Forex Birds Update

Based on our findings, the Forex Birds website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is Trades.com Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Trades.com. The broker does not hold any license. Moreover, it pretends to be another regulated broker (TRADE.COM). Evidently, the names of the two brokers are almost identical, and Trades.com tries to benefit from this.

About Trades.com

🗺️ Registered in	No Registration
🗺️ Type of License	No License
🛡️ Is Trades.com safe to trade	No
🗺️ Recommended Licenses	FCA in UK 🇬🇧 & ASIC in Australia 🇦🇺
🖥 Alternative Broker	GO Markets - licensed by ASIC in Australia

What is Trades.com?

Trades.com as mentioned on the official company website is the global forex and CFD provider that gives the possibility to build a varied and robust portfolio. “Diversify your trading and minimize any potential risks, with a broad choice of financial trading products. Trade with no commission, and benefit from highly advantageous trading terms, including versatile leverage (Also read our review on MEX Exchange to know more about its leverage), low margin and tight spreads (Low Spread Forex Brokers), along with employed strictest measures to ensure the safety and privacy of account. We also regularly submit financial reports to the regulators to prove that we hold sufficient capital to cover all client balances.”

• All that, of course, sounds good, but the main issue is that the broker’s name and offering are creating confusion since there is a well-regulated and quite big broker TRADE.COM. This broker is internationally recognized and known, while trades.com changes only a letter and is, in fact, a non-legal, non-licensed entity that strives only to attract clients. What the broker can do after we can just guess, but definitely it seems to be a fraud. Unauthorized firms promoting hardly Forex and the trading investment itself, however, traders should be careful since that company concert is just to take money from the public.
• This is actually a common practice among scam brokerages to use the tactic to pretend another, authorized firm so traders should be especially wary while deciding to deposit funds or engage in trading with a particular company. The first and major step is to check the registration of the company, while mostly all respected authorities publish an online listing with open access to all users, with the purpose to check the current status of the firm or another.

Trades.com Review Conclusion

One of the most essential steps when choosing a broker is whether it is licensed or overseen by any of the financial authorities. Generally, we recommend trading with financial services providers licensed by one of the most respected financial regulators – the Financial Conduct Authority. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets, HotForex, etc.

Trades.com Update

We found the Trades.com website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come. 

Is GCG Asia Scam or Legit Broker?

GCG Asia is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. Meaning the broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for its compliance before establishment, was never monitored in terms of its safety, and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is GCG Asia?

Guardian Capital AG (GCG) claims to be a leading provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, and related services. According to the website, GCG is an authorized and regulated broker under close supervision by FINMA. We didn't find this broker among the FINMA-regulated entities, however, we actually found it in the regulator's warning list.

• Thus, it is not safe to trade with GCG Asia. It is owned and operated by Guardian Capital AG and claims to be located in Zurich, Switzerland. Yet, it does not hold a license from the local authority. 
• Swiss regulator has issued a warning against GCG Asia in March 2019. This is probably the biggest red flag.

• Also, Swiss Bank Dukascopy warned against GCG Asia. In the announcement, Dukascopy Bank cautioned that neither it nor any entities of Dukascopy Group have relations with GCG Asia, although the latter fraudulently claims the opposite:

  “GCG Asia is fraudulently using Dukascopy's name and logo for attracting clients/investors, without Dukascopy Bank's permission. We are taking action against this dishonest organization. We invite to extreme caution toward such an organization basing its promotion on a lie.”

GCG Asia Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid GCG Asia and other unregulated brokers. The lack of information about the broker’s regulations, trading conditions, and contact details should be the biggest red flag for those who plan to invest with the entity. Usually, such companies run investment scams. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as XM and Exness.

GCG Asia Update

Our research revealed that the GCG Asia website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals.