Archives: Brokers

Is Lockwood Investments Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Lockwood Investments. Lockwood Investments is owned by United Limited, which is an offshore company registered in the Marshall Islands.

• The Marshall Islands is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. Due to the setup cost being low, it does not regulate forex trading. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as PTBanc, Pinprotrade, and more.

What is Lockwood Investments?

Lockwood Investments is an offshore broker that offers Forex and CFDs trade. The map on the website in the 'Contact Us' section shows the location in Sofia, Bulgaria. Probably, they haven't changed it while changing the name of the owner company. As we know, Lockwood Investments has previously been owned and operated by Solutions CM LTD, which also owns such unregulated brokers as OriginalCrypto, Britonprice, and Easy Line Pro.

• In fact, Solutions CM, as well as the brands owned by this company, have been blacklisted multiple times by different regulators.  In order to avoid a bad reputation, brokers just change their names from time to time to delude their new customers.
• In addition, Lockwood Investments has been blacklisted by Spain's CNMV:

"http://lockwoodinv.com is not authorized to provide the investment services detailed in Article 140 of the Securities Markets Law, which include investment advice, or to provide the auxiliary services detailed in letters a), b), d), f) and g) of Article 141 of the said Law in relation to the financial instruments detailed in Article 2 of the said Law, including, for those purposes, foreign currency transactions."

• The most recent warning is from the French regulator AMF:

"The Autorité des Marchés Financiers and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution warn the public against the activities of several websites (including www.lockwoodinv.com) and entities proposing forex investments or proposing online investment services in France for derivatives whose underlying include crypto assets."

Lockwood Investments Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Lockwood Investments and other brokers from the Marshall Islands. Brokers with offshore regulations are not reliable, due to the lax regulations and almost non-existent rules. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FXTM, eToro (Check our review on eToro), and XM.

Lockwood Investments Update

Our research revealed that the Lockwood Investments 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 Fin-Tech Prime Scam or Legit Broker?

Fin-Tech Prime is not a safe broker. The broker seems to be located in Tallinn, Estonia. However, it is not regulated by the local regulatory authority. Instead, the brand behind Fin-Tech Prime - Morgan Ltd. is registered in the Marshall Islands, which is an offshore zone. It is a well-known fact, that the Marshall Islands does not oversee the financial firms and their activities. This means the companies can operate however they wish, putting the clients' funds at risk. 

What is Fin-Tech Prime?

Fin-Tech Prime is a Forex and cryptocurrency broker and a trading name of General Media OU, located in Tallinn, Estonia. There are two more names behind this brand - Morgan Ltd., located in Bulgaria, and Morgan Holdings Ltd., located in the Marshall Islands. However, the broker is not regulated by Estonian Financial Supervision Authority or the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission, which only proves that Fin-Tech Prime is another unregulated offshore broker on the list.

• Moreover, UK's Financial Conduct Authority has issued a warning against the broker:
  "This firm (Fin-TechPrime) is not authorized by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorization."

Fin-Tech Prime Review Conclusion

We strongly advise only dealing with financial firms that are authorized by respected and trustworthy regulators (Find and Compare Forex Brokers). In order to check if the chosen broker is authorized by the FCA, you can check its Financial Services Register to ensure it is. But if you are still searching for a well-regulated broker, check our list of FCA-regulated brokers. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as  FBS and HFM.

Fin-Tech Prime Update

We found the Fin-Tech Prime 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 Binatex Scam or Legit Broker?

No, Binatex is not safe to trade with. The company is not regulated by any of the authorities. It does not have any serious license that can provide safe trading without any risks. The broker is based in Seychelles, yet has also an office in Cyprus.

What is Binatex?

Binatex is a trading name used by the Seychelles-incorporated firm that also serves an office in Cyprus for the purpose of payment services for the offshore holding company Yulanta Business Ltd.

• Also, the company mentions the logos of the European MiFID regulation and registration with Russian CROFR. However, with all respect to the Russian authority, in fact, it doesn’t regulate daily operation and maintenance of the safest trading environment. In addition, the Binatex company didn’t receive a license from the local Cyprus authority CySEC and only mentions its processing. That means the broker can’t use the MiFID logo, while even currently CySEC issued a warning against investing with Binatex.

   “The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) would like to inform the investors and the public at large that the domain Binatex included in the list of not owned or operated by Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs) which have been authorized by CySEC to provide Investment Services.”

  CySEC, Cyprus.

Binatex Review Conclusion

Even though there is no strict evidence of extreme fraud from the company, their unregulated nature of investment business reveals various questions. Until the moment they receive authorization from the CySEC or any other regulatory body, there is simply no trust in how the funds and clients will be managed.  Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

Binatex Update

Based on our research, the Binatex 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 Finpari Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Finpari. The broker does not provide any clear information about its regulations and registration, which may mean only one thing. Either the broker is unregulated or located in an offshore zone. In both cases, it is not safe to invest with Finpari or any other broker that lacks regulation. After thorough research, we found that Finpari is actually a Seychelles-based broker.

• Not all offshore or unregulated brokers are necessarily scams, however, most often, a broker with no regulations turns out to be a fraud. 

What is Finpari?

Finpari trading brand is operated by the Finance Group Corp that offers vast Forex and CFDs trading opportunities. The company claims its numerous awards within the industry, as well as the regulated environment and opportunity to copy trades or engage in contests.

• However, this is all that is available on the official website. There is no mention of an address, location, regulation, or even phone number. Actually, that means the company is located in an offshore zone while attracting worldwide clients just by the competitive proposals with no any confirmation of its legal status to offer anything.
• Our concerns were confirmed during research, as the broker appeared to be a Seychelles-based firm under the name Lerona Imprex S.A., as well which operated another brand Finrally.
• Besides the attractive proposal, the real facts show another side of the company's operation. The traders faced issues with money withdrawals, funds were locked within the account due to some strange terms and conditions, as well as the manipulations in the process. These issues are quite typical for those brokers who pretend to be regulated and fully legitimate but in fact, are offshore or unregulated brokers. Their operation is simply not overseen by anyone, thus the firm can do whatever they wish.
• Apart from the guilty verdicts against Finpari, while the traders' complaints confirmed established fraud operation and trading environment, the broker also appeared in alert lists of regulatory authorities. This includes a list of non-authorized or registered domains listed by CySEC (Check the CySEC regulated brokers list), Cyprus (checklist here).

Finpari Review Conclusion

Therefore, we recommend being very careful in dealing with a non-regulated and offshore broker in order not to fall into fraud. It is much better to choose among the recommended FCA Regulated brokers or similar regulated entities that were confirmed by the legal authority in terms of their sustainability and performance. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

Finpari Update

We have found that the Finpari 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 LatAm Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with LatAm. The broker does not hold any serious license, although it tries to pretend it has tight regulations. The truth is, the broker is registered in Seychelles. Seychelles is an offshore zone that does not oversee the activities of the registered firms. Also, the broker mentions their registered number with FSA as 133076, but we couldn’t find even that number too. 

• We do not recommend signing with an offshore or unregulated broker. 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 LatAm?

LatAm is a trading name used by the incorporated in Seychelles company Latam Global Markets Inc. which provides access to the trading range of Forex and CFD instruments. LatAm FX claims a developed and secure business environment that was maintained with the aim to have lasting relationships with its clients. The broker states its clear alliance with world-class banks and safe online transactions through the best guarantees. 

• However, while checking all information we realize that the company is regulated by none of the serious international authorities. This means there is no confirmation of any applied procedures, therefore the broker is non-licensed.

LatAm Review Conclusion

In any case, we never advise trading with an offshore or non-licensed broker, since the financial investment service they deliver is not trustable. Rather than involving with the risk of losing capital, we would recommend choosing among well-regulated and reputable companies. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

LatAm Update

We found the LatAM 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 Noble Capital House Scam or Legit Broker?

No, Noble Capital House is not safe to trade with. The company is not regulated by any of the authorities. 

• The company is located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is a known location for its liberal requirements towards financial firms and their maintenance. That means the reliability requirements are minimal and do not meet international standards that truly protect clients and what is more that none of the authorities check on every step of the company. Therefore, any offshore firm cannot be a safe option due to the lack of regulations.

What is Noble Capital House?

Noble Capital House offers convenient trading conditions on a range of trading instruments throughout various account types and education with support from the company. The broker also promises the safety of funds by using separate bank accounts and compliance with international standards of service.

• In addition, authorities of reputable forex and trading hubs supervise offerings among their jurisdictions and warn the companies that are not set in accordance with the protective rules. Thus, Noble Capital House appeared on blacklists of the UK’s FCA, while other partner regulators followed the necessary actions.

  “We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorization. We strongly recommend being especially wary of dealing with this unauthorized firm and to protect yourself from scammers. We advise to only deal with financial firms that are regulated and authorized to perform financial business.”

  FCA, UK. April 2018.

Noble Capital House Review Conclusion

In order to establish a successful trading carrier and process, it is a paramount and first priority to choose a broker to trust, that’s why we advise avoiding non-legitimate companies and to choose only among the recommended FCA Regulated brokers or similar regulated entities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

Noble Capital House Update

We have found that the Noble Capital House 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 OPCompany Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with OPCompany. The broker states about its MFSA regulation, however, the broker seems to use fake information to conceal the fact of not being regulated. 

What is OPCompany?

OPCompany is a Forex broker that seems to be offering its financial services mostly to Italian customers as the first language supported on the website is Italian. The broker is owned and operated by OPC Services and claims to be regulated and located in Malta. There is even a license number and the text of the agreement with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) provided on the website.

• We took a look at the MFSA's register and didn't find the license number or broker's name mentioned there. It seems like OPCompany is just another broker that uses fake regulation/license from a reliable authority to get people's trust and make them invest. We highly recommend avoiding such entities, who try to delude investors as usually all the invested money is gone for good with the fraud broker.
  In addition, the Italian Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) issued a warning against OPCompany on 29th of October:
  "The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange, has also prohibited, pursuant to article 99, paragraph 1, letter d), of the Consolidated Law on Finance, the offer to the Italian public of standardized units of "managed accounts" through the www.opcompany.net website."

OPCompany Review Conclusion

We advise traders to avoid not licensed brokers and choose among the regulated ones. The most reliable regulators are the UK's FCA, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). These regulators require a certain amount of capital from the brokers to guarantee the compensation of funds and a certain level of safety of clients' money. Traders should sign in with reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

OPCompany Update

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