Category: Regulation

Unregulated forex broker CFDPremium has been one of the latest additions to the warning list of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (CONSOB). The Italian financial regulator also ordered the broker to cease its illegal operations in the country.

Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB; Italian Companies and Exchange Commission) is the government authority of Italy responsible for regulating the Italian securities market. This includes the regulation of the Italian stock exchange, the Borsa Italiana.

CFDpremium is an online Forex broker, focusing on Commodity, Index and Forex trading. The company is owned and operated by Silver Wolf Ltd. Silver Wolf Ltd. is registered on the Marshall Islands and known for operating some other brands, such as FXtrade777, TradeBNP and MarketGBP. It is also known for multiple warnings received from several regulator, including UK's FCA, Spain's CNMV, Danish FSA and some others. Moreover, CFDPremium itself has also been blacklisted by Spanish CNMV in January 2019.

The broker claims to be located in London, UK. However, we have checked the regulator's register and haven't found any mentions of CFDPremium. The website offers different language options, where all the languages are European, which means the firm has been mainly targeting EU residents.

All these facts are more than enough to stay away from the CFDPremium. In Italy, as in any other EU Member State, financial intermediaries, including forex brokers, are not allowed to operate without proper authorization either from the local authorities or from any financial regulator of another EU country. You can read our review on this broker here.

Spain’s financial markets and services regulator CNMV has issued warnings against two forex brokers Traders Way and IGFinvestment. According to the public warning notice, these entities are not authorized to provide investment services or investment advice and auxiliary services, including foreign currency transactions in Spain.

The National Securities Market Commission (often abbreviated as CNMV) is the Spanish government agency responsible for the financial regulation of the securities markets in Spain. It is an independent agency that falls under the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness. The regulator maintains a register with investment companies that are authorized to operate in Spain.

Traders Way is an online forex broker. The broker  is owned by TW Corp. and registered offshore in the Dominica. Traders Way doesn't seem to be regulated by any authority, therefore, it should be avoided. It is highly recommended to choose the Regulated Brokers that deliver client’s safety of funds. You can read our full Traders Way review here. 

IGFinvestment is another offshore Forex broker. It offers trading with Shares, Indices, Forex, Commodities and Cryptocurrencies with CFDs. According to the terms and conditions, IGFinvestment is registered in the Marshall Islands. The brokers registered in this offshore zone are not overseen by any authority and are not subject to any regulatory regime. Also, IGFinvestment lacks regulation as there is no legal information, as well as contact details mentioned on the website.

We always advise traders to avoid dealing with unregulated forex brokers, such as Traders Way and IGFinvestment. You can also share your experience with these brokers by commenting on this post.

Italy’s National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (CONSOB) issued a warning against forex broker Richmond Investing. The regulator does not provide much information, except that Richmond Investing is not authorized to provide services in Italy.
Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB; Italian Companies and Exchange Commission) is the government authority of Italy responsible for regulating the Italian securities market. This includes the regulation of the Italian stock exchange, the Borsa Italiana.

Richmond Investing is a broker that operates through the website www.richmondinvesting.com and offers Forex, commodities, indices and stocks trading. Company Marshall Islands provides online trading services via its brand “Richmond Investing” and its European billing agent and richmondinvesting.com website and domain registrar. It is clear that the owner-company is registered offshore, which is already a disadvantage of trading with this broker.
A few months ago Richmond Investing has been providing a different information about its owner-company and location. Back in September, the broker was banned by the FCA and it claimed to be located in Scotland and owned by Zurix Corporation Ltd. (registered in the Marshall Islands). As we can see, the offshore location hasn't changed, so assume, the company changes its credentials in order to erase bad reputation and warnings that were issued against it.
Considering the above, we highly recommend to avoid Richmond Investing and select a decent and licensed broker instead. Investing with a properly regulated broker is crucial for the safety of any investment. Here we should note that along with FCA, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), two other well-respected institutions, also enforce strict regulatory standards upon all brokers in their jurisdiction.

You can read our review on this broker here.

Italy’s financial markets and services provider regulator CONSOB has updated its warning list with the brokers who are not licensed to operate in Italy. RoyalFunds and LV Grow Markets happened to get into the list. These firms have been offering investment services and activities to the Italian public without being authorized in the country.

Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB; Italian Companies and Exchange Commission) is the Italian governmental authority responsible for regulating the Italian securities market. The regulator is also responsible for the Italian stock exchange, the Borsa Italiana.

Are these brokers legit?

RoyalFunds offers a wide range of trading instruments involving Currency pairs, Commodities and Indices. The company doesn't disclose any information about its regulation, location or any contact details. This all means RoyalFunds is NOT regulated by any authority. This is the biggest red flag when it comes to investing with a brokerage firm.

LV Grow Markets is a Forex broker, owned and operated by Arrow Capital Ltd., incorporated in Vanuatu. You can read our detailed article about the risk of trading with brokers from Vanuatu. Traders who invest with the offshore brokers like LV Grow Markets have no guarantee of the segregation of accounts. In addition, LV Grow Markets has also been banned by Austrian FMA.

Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and AvaTrade.

You can also share your trading experience with RoyalFunds and LV Grow Markets by commenting on this post.

Spain’s financial markets and services regulator CNMV has issued a warning against 2dots. According to the public warning notice, 2dots, operated by Webnet Ltd, is not authorized to provide investment services or investment advice and auxiliary services, including foreign currency transactions in Spain.

The National Securities Market Commission (often abbreviated as CNMV) is the Spanish government agency responsible for the financial regulation of the securities markets in Spain. It is an independent agency that falls under the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness. The regulator maintains a register with investment companies that are authorized to operate in Spain.

2dots is an offshore Forex and CFD broker. The broker is providing more than 1,000 financial assets from all 4 major markets and 2 trading instruments (CFDs and FX). 2dots is owned and operated by Webnet Ltd, which claims to be located in Luxemburg. As we found out, it is actually registered in Vanuatu. We keep reminding that offshore zones are famous for their loose legal regimes, tax free and low-cost licenses. They are basically not licensed, nor supervised by any authority.

Previously, 2dots was owned by another company and claimed to be located in Bulgaria or Estonia. It seems like they have been changing owners. Usually it is done because of the bad reputation that companies gain. Nonetheless, the broker is not supervised by any regulatory authority and should definitely be avoided.

We recommend to stay away from the unregulated brokers and pay more attention to the reliable and licensed ones. All the warnings from the regulators are meant to protect the public from the fraudulent unlawful financial activity. You can read our review on this broker here.

Spain’s financial markets and services regulator CNMV has issued warnings against two forex brokers ProuFX and BDV Invest FX. According to the public warning notices, these entities are not authorized to provide investment services or investment advice and auxiliary services, including foreign currency transactions in Spain.

The National Securities Market Commission (often abbreviated as CNMV) is the Spanish government agency responsible for the financial regulation of the securities markets in Spain. It is an independent agency that falls under the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness. The regulator maintains a register with investment companies that are authorized to operate in Spain.

Are these brokers legit? 

ProuFX is an Online Forex Broker. According to the website, ProuFX is owned by Yield Enterprise Currency Software OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia and operated from Riga, Latvia. The government of Estonia allows forex trading within the country for those brokers authorized by the local regulator Financial Supervision Authority. However, we didn’t find any mention of ProuFX or  Yield Enterprise Currency Software OÜ in the regulator’s register.

In addition, we have reviewed other brokers ( such as Libra Markets and UproFx) operated by Yield Enterprise Currency Software OÜ that were blacklisted by several regulators. 

BDV Invest FX offers its customers online trading of currencies, commodities and of major stocks via CFDs. The broker claims to be licensed and regulated by CNMV, FCA and BaFin. However, it turned out BDV Invest FX has just been using the regulatory details of other regulated entities while having no license. 

We always advise traders to avoid dealing with unregulated forex brokers, such as ProuFX and BDV Invest FX. You can also share your experience with these brokers by commenting on this post.

ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Sydney-based Guarded Pty Ltd (Guarded) for failure to comply with financial services laws. The cancellation was effective from 27 May 2019. (Guarded Pty Ltd held AFS licence no 449837 since AFSL since 4 March 2014.)

According to the official notice, Guarded failed to maintain competence to provide the financial services authorised by its licence after its responsible manager, who had been appointed as a key person, resigned. It also failed to notify ASIC or put forward a suitable replacement.  

Generally, a key person is appointed on an AFS licence where ASIC considers that the licensee is dependent on that person to maintain the capacity, knowledge and skills to provide financial services under the licence. Maintaining competence is essential for providing appropriate advice to consumers and ensuring licensees deliver financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly. 

Guarded also failed to lodge its financial statements and auditor’s reports with ASIC for the financial years ending 2017 and 2018. Guarded’s failures indicate that that the licensee did not understand its obligations as an AFS licensee.

ASIC expects AFS licensees to comply with the law when key personnel who are responsible for overseeing the provision of financial services resign. Licensees must notify ASIC of any changes to responsible managers within 10 business days of the change occurring.

Guarded has the right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

ASIC has announced the cancellation of the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Sydney-based financial services provider KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd, effective 22 November 2019.

Previously, the regulator has suspended the AFS licence until 23 September 2020.

After the suspension commenced, KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd advised ASIC that all relevant officers of the company had resigned and that the company had ceased to carry on a financial services business. Considering this fact, ASIC has cancelled the company’s AFS licence.   

It was noted that since the suspension of KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd’s AFS licence, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has received multiple complaints from people located offshore regarding a company purporting to be  KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd.

On the information currently available to it, ASIC does not know if there is a link between the entity provoking the complaints to AFCA and the formerly licensed Australian entity. 

In its official statement, the Australian regulator advised consumers to exercise caution in relation to any company purporting to offer financial services under the name KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd.

You may check our list of the ASIC-Regulated Brokers.