Archives: Brokers

Is Phy Capital Investments Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Phy Capital Investments. The company claims to be owned and operated by Direct Trading Technologies Limited. According to the website, the broker is based and regulated in New Zealand.

• However, the broker doesn't provide its registration number, instead, it only tells about the purposes and advantages of being a New Zealand Financial Services Provider. It doesn't seem like the broker is actually regulated. In addition, we have found a company Direct Trading Technologies Limited that is licensed and regulated by the UK's FCA and New Zealand's FMA, however, this company is not associated with Phy Capital Investments Limited.

What is Phy Capital Investments?

Phy Capital Investments Limited is a broker that offers Forex, CFDs, indices, and metals trading.

The broker does not seem to be regulated. Phy Capital Investments Limited has been using the address details of the regulated Direct Trading Technologies Limited, which only proves that the broker is a clone of a legit company. It is a popular tactic among scam companies that use the regulation/address/names of the licensed companies in order to get people's trust and make them invest.

• Moreover, Phy Capital Investments has recently been blacklisted by the Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong:
  "The company’s address belongs to a secretarial company. Note: Unlicensed entities often use names similar to legitimate companies to confuse investors."

• The pages and official sources of the international regulators’ list alert are shared with the authority directly or by other countries’ supervisory bodies or transmitted centrally. Those tools and the general purpose of the regulatory bodies operate in order to enable stability of the market offerings, protect clients from potential and numerous frauds, enable reliability rules to financial service entities, and more.

Phy Capital Investments Review Conclusion

To sum up, all the mentioned facts show that Phy Capital Investments Limited cannot be trusted and might be one more fraud company. Instead, we advise all investors and traders to avoid Phy Capital Investments Limited 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 Alpari and XM.

Phy Capital Investments Update

Based on our research, the Phy Capital Investments Limited 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 Morgan Newfield Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Morgan Newfield. The broker does not provide any information about its regulation. However, being located in Belgium, brokerage firms should be licensed by the local financial authorities. 

• Being unregulated is an immediate red flag, as brokers that do not hold any license are not overseen by any legal entity, which means they can operate their business however they wish. 

What is Morgan Newfield?

Morgan Newfield is a full-service commodity brokerage and wealth investment management company. The company claims to provide high-quality investment services to individuals and institutions that demand more from their broker. The broker mentions their address in Taiwan, as well as additional offices in the major financial center that might allegedly include a Belgium office too.

• However, it was revealed that the broker delivers and offers their financial investment services without preliminary and mandatory authorization from the respected authorities. Since Forex and Online Trading Market itself is a decentralized area, reputable jurisdictions around the world established regulatory bodies that will oversee the market offering, with the purpose to protect clients and their funds.
• Therefore, as the current company is authorized by none, the Belgium regulator FSMA issued a warning against Morgan Newfield, as detected the company activity in Belgium, thus included the firm to their alert list. Moreover, the information about broker’s illegal nature and caution on dealing with them spread further and the EU regulation bodies followed Morgan Newfield blacklisting.

“The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) warns the public against the activities of Morgan Newfield, a company that offers investment services.”

FSMA, Belgium. July 2018.

“The AFM warns consumers not to accept offers from Morgan Newfield. This company is probably a boiler room.”

AFM, Netherlands. April 2018.

Morgan Newfield Review Conclusion

Well-respected financial authorities like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) are effectively enforcing strict financial and ethical rules on all overseen brokers. That’s why we recommend choosing among the brokers regulated by the mentioned authorities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers (Top 10 Forex Brokers in the World) such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and TMGM.

Morgan Newfield Update

Our research revealed that the Morgan Newfield 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 St Clair Capital Group Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with St Clair Capital Group. The broker is suspected to be a scam. Being located in Japan the financial investment firm should be authorized by the local regulator JFSA (Japan Financial Service Agency) in order to be a legal entity. As this is not the case for St Clair Capital Group we recommend avoiding its offering, as simply there is no supervision under the company that can confirm numerous attractive states of the offering.  

What is St Clair Capital Group?

St Clair Capital Group is a trading name of the firm that claims its address in Japan and is concerned about its trustable trading environment through a world-class leader in portfolio management, stockbroking, and wealth.

• However, being located in Japan, the broker does not hold a license from the local authority. Besides, why would a serious company put their clients at the highest risk and not include protective tools in their proposal with the first step, which is obtaining an official license?
• In addition, the St Clair Capital Group broker’s offering and targets of the residents was detected also beyond its original location, by the European authorities that are constantly checking on the available offerings and secure clients from potential frauds. Therefore, the St Clair Capital Group was listed in an alert list by the Netherlands and followed by numerous regulators around.

“The AFM warns consumers not to accept offers from St Clair Capital Group. This company is probably a boiler room.”

AFM, Netherlands. April 2018.

Overall St Clair Capital Group Ranking 

Because of the regulation and safety issues we revealed during our research of St Clair Capital Group, we do not rank positively St Clair Capital Group, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• St Clair Capital Group Overall Ranking is 2 out of 10 based on our testing and compared to 500 other brokers, see Our Ranking below compared to other popular and industry Leading Brokers.

St Clair Capital Group Alternative Brokers

We revealed that St Clair Capital Group has a lot of issues, mainly in respect of its safety and registration. Thus, here are much better Alternatives to St Clair Capital Group with tight regulations and great trading conditions. We select Good Brokers and reliable options for your comparison below: 

• HFM – Good for Currency trading
• FP Markets – Good for CopyTrading
• XM – Good for Beginners

Deposit & Withdrawal

There is not much information about deposits and withdrawals on the broker's website. Instead, there are a lot of reviews from traders that have invested with St Clair Capital Group.

• The majority of investors claim that it is impossible to withdraw funds from the broker. In fact, the broker is a complete scam, and it is interested only in getting to the client's funds. 

St Clair Capital Group Review Conclusion

Well-respected financial authorities like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) are effectively enforcing strict financial and ethical rules on all overseen brokers. We recommend choosing among the brokers regulated by the mentioned authorities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers (Top 10 Forex Brokers in the World) such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and TMGM.

• Overall ranking and experience for St Clair Capital Group is Negative

Is RichmondFG Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with RichmondFG. The broker is suspected to be a scam. The company is owned and operated by Elit Property Vision LTD with a registered address in Sofia, Bulgaria. However, the broker is not authorized or regulated by the Financial Supervision Commission in Bulgaria or any other regulator.

• Choosing an unregulated broker is very dangerous, as unregulated brokers do not provide any ground for safe and secure trades. The investments and funds with unregulated brokers are in jeopardy. 

What is RichmondFG?

No, it is not safe to trade with RichmondFG. RichmondFG is a broker that offers forex currency pairs, stocks, commodities, CFDs, and indices. 

Forex and CFD brokers are required to have a license from the local financial authorities in order to offer and provide financial services. RichmondFG doesn’t carry such a license, so it cannot be considered a reliable broker to invest with.

• Moreover, RichmondFG has recently been blacklisted by Italy's regulator CONSOB:

  "The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange has ordered the following company to cease the infringement, consisting of the provision of unauthorized investment services and activities to the Italian public."

• Also, previously the broker has been banned by German BaFIN, however, back in 2018, there was a different company behind the brand's name, Terraquest Media Ltd.

RichmondFG Review Conclusion

Well-respected financial authorities like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) are effectively enforcing strict financial and ethical rules on all overseen brokers. That’s why we recommend choosing among the brokers regulated by the mentioned authorities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers (Top 10 Forex Brokers in the World) such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and TMGM.

RichmondFG Update

Our research revealed that the RichmondFG 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 Bex Options Scam or Legit Broker?

Bex Options 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 Bex Options?

Bex Options is a broker that offers forex, cryptocurrencies, binary options (See Regulated Binary Options Brokers), and CFDs trading. The company is owned and operated by Bex Options Trade and Investment and claims to be located and regulated in the UK. They even provide the registration number with the UK's FCA on the website, however, the company is not regulated by the FCA or any other authority. The registration number belongs to another FCA-regulated company Bex Trading Limited that has no connection to Bex Options. It seems like the broker has been using the registration details of a legit company and has been deluding the traders. As a proof to this, there is a warning issued by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority stating:

"This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon the information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation. Please note that Bex Options and https://bexoptions.com/ is in no way connected to the registered company Bex Trading Limited (CRN: 09563470)"

Bex Options Review Conclusion

Most of the forex/CFD brokers in the UK have to be licensed by the FCA (See XM review here). It is clear that Bex Options doesn't hold a license from the regulator, moreover, it has been using the details of a genuine, licensed company to get clients' trust. Thus, we advise traders to choose among well-regulated and reliable brokers that guarantee the segregation of the accounts and the protection of funds. Check the list of FCA-regulated brokers.  It is safe to trade with brokers, such as  BlackBull Markets, FXGT, and FBS.

Bex Options Update

Based on our research, the Bex Options 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 Affiliated Trade Group Scam or Legit broker?

Affiliated Trade Group is a 100% fraud company. The broker is registered offshore and does not hold any proper license from a well-known reliable financial regulator. It is NOT SAFE to trade with Affiliated Trade Group.

• We never advise trading with an offshore broker, since the financial investment service they deliver is not trustable. The reason is simple, the broker may promise the most ever competitive trading conditions or the trading environment, yet the trader has no guarantee from the official entities that oversee the Forex industry. Thus the engagement in trading with such a company means the trader will believe only in the broker’s words, and of course, it is a high risk.

What is Affiliated Trade Group?

Affiliated Trade Group is a Forex broker that was founded in 1998. The broker doesn't provide any information about the company behind the brand name as well as there are no regulation details have been provided.

• Affiliated Trade Group claims to have regional offices in Costa Rica and Japan, with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. However, the company doesn't seem to be licensed in Switzerland by its local regulator Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. Moreover, the broker has been blacklisted by at least two regulators:
  a warning from the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC):

"The public should be aware that Affiliated Trade Group is not registered to sell securities or derivatives in Alberta, and that its actions are not in compliance with Alberta securities laws";

and a warning from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC):

"The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is warning investors that the company Affiliated Trade Group and its representatives are not registered in Ontario to solicit investments or provide advice on investing in, buying, or selling securities."

• The pages and official sources of the international regulators’ list alert are shared with the authority directly or by other countries’ supervisory bodies or transmitted centrally. Those tools and the general purpose of the regulatory bodies operate in order to enable stability of the market offerings, protect clients from potential and numerous frauds, enable reliability rules to financial service entities, and more. 
• On top of these warnings, when you click on "platform access" it redirects to another platform Secure Trade FX. We couldn't find any information about this firm, so we suggest traders stay away from both of the companies and invest with reliable brokers.

Affiliated Trade Group Review Conclusion

We recommend avoiding dealing with Affiliated Trade Group, as well as any other firms flagged by the regulators. We advise investing with brokers regulated by well-respected financial institutions such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as IG Markets and BlackBull Markets.

Affiliated Update

Based on our research, the Affiliated Trade Group 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 Kingston Trading Scam or Legit Broker?

Kingston Trading 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 Kingston Trading?

Kingston Trading is an investment and independent broker-dealer that claims its proprietary trading desks to serve institutional and high-net-worth clients that operate since 2013. The mentioned headquarter of Kingston Trading in Hong Kong, while enabled operation covers international trading and investment capabilities.

• However, in Hong Kong in order to deliver investment services and trading capabilities, the firm should hold a license from the local authority SFC. The registration process and proper licensing of the broker ensure the company is a trustable one, as to maintain necessary capital requirements, enable customer protective tools and regularly checked in terms of performance. Otherwise, there is no guarantee the broker is a pure scam or another trap to take traders' funds.
• In the case of Kingston Trading, there are not so many reviews about the company's trading environment, which is rather suspicious than confirming its good status. In addition, the company received a legal warning from SFC as claimed its operation in Hong Kong without permission.

“Kingston Trading has come to the attention of the SFC because they are unlicensed in Hong Kong and are believed to be, or to have been, targeting Hong Kong investors or claim to have an association with Hong Kong.”

SFC, Hong Kong. December 2018.  

• The pages and official sources of the international regulators’ list alert are shared with the authority directly or by other countries’ supervisory bodies or transmitted centrally. Those tools and the general purpose of the regulatory bodies operate in order to enable stability of the market offerings, protect clients from potential and numerous frauds, enable reliability rules to financial service entities and more.

Overall Kingston Trading Ranking 

We found multiple regulation and safety issues with Kingston Trading, thus we do not rank positively Kingston Trading, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• Kingston Trading Overall Ranking is 2 out of 10 based on our testing and compared to 500 other brokers, see Our Ranking below compared to other popular and industry Leading Brokers.

Kingston Trading Alternative Brokers

We found that Kingston Trading has a lot of issues, especially in respect of its safety and customer care. Thus, here are much better Alternatives to Kingston Trading with tight regulations and great trading conditions. We select Good Brokers and reliable options for your comparison below: 

• Blueberry Markets – Forex and CFD Trading with Low Fees
• Trade.com – Good Trading Instruments
• XM – Wide Range of Trading Opportunities

Kingston Trading Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Kingston Trading 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 Alpari, FXPrimus, and XM.

• Overall ranking and experience for Kingston Trading is Negative

Is GSI Markets Scam or Legit Broker?

No, GSI Markets is not safe to trade with. The company is not regulated by any of the authorities which means that traders should be cautious when investing with the firm. 

What is GSI Markets?

GSI Markets is a Forex and CFDs broker (Read Forex and CFDs trading Broker HYCM Review). Gsimarkets.com is operated and owned by Media Force Limited (registered in the Marshall Islands). IT and Financial administration services by Netmedia Markets OU, based in Tallinn, Estonia.

• There is no information about the broker's regulation and it seems like neither of these companies is licensed or regulated by any authority, which is a big red flag for the traders. The website states that the firm has several contact phone lines in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia or Canada, however, there is a small chance the GSI Markets has offices in those countries. Moreover, the broker has a few warnings from well-known regulators:
• A warning from Spain's CNMV in July 2017: "MEDIA SOFT LIMITED/NETMEDIA MARKETS OU/www.gsimarkets.com is not authorised to provide the investment services, which include investment advice, or to provide the auxiliary services in relation to the financial instruments detailed in article 2 of the said Law, including, for those purposes, foreign currency transactions."
• One more warning from the UK's FCA in June 2017:
  "This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation."

GSI Markets Review Conclusion

We recommend avoiding doubtful offerings, such as GSI Markets, instead choosing among the brokers regulated by top-tier authorities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers (Top 10 Forex Brokers in the World) such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and TMGM.

GSI Markets Update

Our research revealed that the GSI Markets 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 City Global Trading Scam or Legit Broker?

City Global Trading 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 City Global Trading?

City Global Trading is a trading service provider that offers expert advice to help in a smart managed FX investment choice and assist by a most reliable environment through transparent pricing. The broker claims its registration of an address in the UK, as well as the regulation by FCA since the financial service provider operating in the UK should hold a necessary license.

• However, the facts revealed totally opposite situation while the City Global Trading nor regulated or authorized by FCA or any other entity to deliver its service. In addition to that, the FCA has even issued an official warning against the City Global Trading broker, as the company misleads about its legal information and targets UK residents without legal permission to do so.

“Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting, or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by us. The firm City Global Trading is not authorized by us and is targeting people in the UK. We strongly advise you to only deal with financial firms that are registered, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are.”

FCA, UK. December 2018.  

• Therefore, it comes to the point that City Global Trading is most probably located in some offshore zone or even registered by none while presenting itself as a legit firm.

City Global Trading Review Conclusion

Traders should be extremely careful while choosing the broker to trade with, as scams invent more and more possibilities to target their victims. The reliable offering always would come from a reputable and regulated firm, with a necessary implementation of protective tools.

Thus, as general advice and particular case, we would advise better to choose among truly FCA-regulated brokers, while the list of FCA Regulated forex brokers can assist in choice, or brokers such as FXPrimus (Check FXPrimus broker review here) and XM(Read about XM trading). 

City Global Trading Update

Based on our research, the City Global Trading 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.