Category: Regulation

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. Richmondfx and Globalfx 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?

Richmondfx is a broker that offers Forex, precious metals, commodities, CFDs and Futures trading. The company is owned and operated by Elit Property Vision LTD and claims to be fully licensed and regulated. According to the website, the broker has offices in the UK, Switzerland and Singapore, however, it is not regulated in any of these countries.

Moreover, The owner company Elit Property Vision LTD also owns other brokerages, such as previously reviewed CFD Royal, CarterFS and RichmondFG.. These companies have been blacklisted multiple times by different regulators, and this fact definitely doesn’t put a lot of trust to Richmondfx.

Globalfx is a Forex broker, operated by Globalfx LTD. The website's interface is literally identical to the one in Richmondfx. All the website section and the content are the same, so it is just one more proof that both brokers are probably involved in scam and should be avoided. 

Investing with a properly regulated broker is crucial for the safety of any investment. You can choose among Swiss brokers regulated by FINMA or those authorized in the UK by its FCA.

Also, you can share your trading experience with Richmondfx and Globalfx by commenting on this post.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued warnings against Finroyalty and Zurichbanc. The regulator said the brokers have been providing financial services and products targeting people in the UK without being licensed.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government, and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financial firms providing services to consumers and maintains the integrity of the financial markets in the United Kingdom.

Finroyalty is a Forex broker, owned and operated by Pro Star, based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The broker doesn't provide any information about its regulation as well as location. There is only a British contact number mentioned on the website, but Finroyalty is obviously not regulated in the UK, moreover, it is banned there. 

In addition, the Pro Star company itself has a quite bad reputation. We have reviewed some brokers operated by Pro Star (including Traderia and GoldenCFD) and we do not recommend dealing with either of them. 

ZurichBanc is a financial services provider, offering currency pairs, stocks, commodities and indices trading. The company is owned and operated by Ankor Group Investment Ltd., registered in Bulgaria. However, the broker is not regulated in Bulgaria or any other country. 

According to the FCA's official notice, ZurichBanc has been using the details of the FCA-regulated entity Zurich Investment Services (UK) Limited, and is considered to be a clone-firm, therefore should be avoided. 

When engaging with brokers that do not operate on the grounds of a valid license, issued from a trustworthy authority, traders are putting their investments at higher risk. It is better to avoid dealing with offshore brokerages and choose properly regulated and reliable brokers. 

You can also share your trading experience with Finroyalty and Zurichbanc by commenting on this post.

The Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand (FMA) has issued a warning against CF Group, an unauthorized company offering Forex and CFD trading. The regulator states that the company claims to be associated with a New Zealand registered financial service provider without being regulated in the country.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) plays a critical role in regulating capital markets and financial services in New Zealand. It is the New Zealand government agency responsible for enforcing securities, financial reporting, and company law as they apply to financial services and securities markets.

CF Group operates through the website www.forexcf.com and offers Forex and CFDs trading. The broker has two subsidiaries: CF GLOBAL UK LIMITED and CF GROUP LIMITED. According to the website, CF GLOBAL UK LIMITED is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, while CF GROUP LIMITED is registered as a Financial Service Provider in New Zealand. There is a record about CF GLOBAL UK LIMITED in the FCA register, although it is said that the company is no longer regulated there, so the information on the broker's website is false.
As to the second company, CF GROUP LIMITED, it is the actual reason of the FMA's warning. The company is present in the regulator's register, however, it has nothing to do with the CF Group broker. It is clear that all the regulatory information provided on the website is nothing but a lie used to get client's trust.
In addition, the broker doesn't provide its address and only gives out the contact phone number (the British one). The website supports two languages: English and Vietnamese, which usually points to the counties that have been targeted.
It is recommended to avoid dealing with unregulated brokers, especially, when they provide false regulation information on their websites. There are a lot of properly licensed brokers, like the ones by FCA or the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to choose from.
You can read our review on this broker here.

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand, the government agency responsible for financial regulation, have issued warnings against Dang Kang International Group and Profitix brokers. The regulator states the companies are not registered, licensed, or regulated in New Zealand and could be involved in a scam. 

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) plays a critical role in regulating capital markets and financial services in New Zealand. It is the New Zealand government agency responsible for enforcing securities, financial reporting, and company law as they apply to financial services and securities markets.

DangKang International Group Limited is a forex broker that claims to be located in New Zealand. The company also claims to be regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, it is not licensed in the UK or any other country, and, moreover, it was even blacklisted by the FCA. With all these red flags, Dang Kang International Group shold definitely be avoided. 

Profitix is a forex broker, owned and operated by ProfitiX Ltd. The company is located and regulated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 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. In addition, the regulator states that individuals from Profitix have been contacting New Zealand residents with investment offers without having the legal right for that. 

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 fraudulent unlawful financial activity. You can share your Dang Kang International Group or Profitix experience with us by commenting on this post.  

Among the latest issued warnings of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the one against an unregulated financial services provider – company Brokerz that appears to target UK residents.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government, and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financial firms providing services to consumers and maintains the integrity of the financial markets in the United Kingdom.

Brokerz is a Forex and CFDs broker that operates through the website www.brokerz.com. The company is owned and managed by Brokerz ltd., based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, means it is an offshore entity and there is a high risk for the customers when dealing with this firm. There is another company behind the brand's name, All Media EOOD that claims to be located in Bulgaria. However, the mentioned company is not regulated by the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission.

In addition, the FCA warning is not the first that Brokerz firm has got. It has also been blacklisted by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), which states that the broker is not entitled to carry out banking transactions in Austria that require a license.

Considering all the above, we don’t recommend this broker due to the lack of financial regulation and the warning from the authorities. All brokers licensed by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority are under the umbrella of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which can pay up to £50,000 per client. Unlike FCA-licensed brokers, unregulated ones are not obliged to keep their clients’ money in segregated accounts. You can read our review on this broker here.

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) warns the public against the activities of Beflix and Trade Idea who are unlawfully operating in Belgium. The regulator has added that these trading platforms try to arouse consumers’ curiosity by placing scam ads on social media such as Facebook. In these fake ads, a well-known person often explains how to get rich quick.

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is the financial regulatory agency in Belgium. As a supervisory authority, the FSMA strives to ensure the honest and equitable treatment of financial consumers. It aims at the fair and orderly operation and the transparency of the financial markets by ensuring that listed companies provide correct and complete information.

According to the official statement, the victims who agree to invest with Beflix or Trade Idea complain in particular about finding themselves unable to recover their money, or simply not hearing any more from the platform with which they have invested their money.

Beflix is a Forex and CFDs broker, owned and operated by Altridium Group Inc., and incorporated in Seychelles. Seychelles is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as Hugo’s Way, Pari Fx Trade and more. We advise all the traders to avoid Beflix and other brokers from Seychelles. 

As to the Trade Idea Forex and Crypto broker, the company doesn't provide any information about its location as well as regulation. There are basically no legal proofs of this firm to be allowed to offer its financial services to the public. That is another type of brokers we would recommend traders to avoid. 

It is better to avoid dealing with unregulated and offshore brokerages and choose properly regulated and reliable brokers. A good example of such are the ones supervised by the FCA or ASIC. 

You can also share your Beflix and Trade Idea experience with us by commenting on this post.

Canada’s regional regulator, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), has issued a warning against the forex, CFD and binary options broker Option888 and its owner Celestial Trading Ltd.
The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is an independent government agency responsible for the regulation of securities trading in British Columbia, Canada. The British Columbia Securities Commission is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, and aims to protect and promote the public interest in the securities markets by ensuring that securities traded within BC are done so fairly and with the public's best interests in mind.

According to the BCSC, Option888 claims to be an online Forex trading platform provider, and purports to have offices in “London, Sweden, Malta, Germany, Holland, Spain and France”. According to Option888’s website, Celestial Trading Ltd. owns and operates Option888. The broker had accepted funds from a British Columbia (BC) resident to trade with the company. However, the Parties are not registered to trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in BC.
As to the broker Option888 itself, the company provides a lot of confusing information, as it claims that Celestial Trading Ltd. is registered in Montenegro, but at the same time it is located in Seychelles. Meanwhile, the terms and conditions on the website state that the broker is dealing inder the laws of Cyprus. Also, the company that processes the payments, Celtic Pay Ltd., claims to be located in the UK, however, it is not regulated there.
In addition, the broker has been banned multiple times by different regulators such as Germany's BaFin and Austria's FMA. It is clear that Option888 has a lack of license adding the offshore registration, we would not recommend investing there. It is recommended to first check the lists of the regulated trustworthy brokers before making any investments. You can read our review on this broker here.