Category: Regulation

ASIC has suspended the Australian financial services (AFS) license held by Halifax Investment Services Pty Ltd (Halifax). The license was suspended for a year until January 10, 2020. It happened only six weeks after this retail FX brokerage went into insolvency administration on November 23, 2018.
As we have previously reported, going into administration followed the appointment of Morgan Kelly, Stewart McCallum, and Phil Quinlan, of Ferrier Hodgson, as joint voluntary administrators of Halifax. The website of the Halifax Investment Services was closed for “maintenance” and the investments of the clients have been frozen. The administrators stated that after license suspension, the investors' loss may be between AUD 10-20 million.

Halifax Investment Services Pty Ltd (Halifax), was a financial services licensee headquartered in Sydney with a partially-owned subsidiary in Auckland, New Zealand. It has been providing various financial products in a range of asset classes, including stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange, and contracts for difference; and trade finance and currency exchange services.
The terms of the AFS licence suspension allow the Halifax AFS licence to continue in effect for the following purposes only: to ensure that clients of Halifax continue to have access to an external dispute resolution scheme; to ensure that Halifax continues to be required to have arrangements for compensating retail clients, including the holding of professional indemnity insurance cover; and to allow for the termination of existing arrangements with clients of Halifax.

Italy’s financial markets and services regulator CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa) has warned that the forex broker FXG Invest has been offering its investment services and activities to the Italian public without being regulated 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.

FXG Invest operates through the website www.fxginvest.com and offers a variety of currency pairs and CFDs on commodities, indices, stocks and crypto currency. According to the website the company is owned by Grand Services LTD., registered in the Marshall Island and operated by Nordic Pearl Limited, registered in Bulgaria. The offshore zones such as Marshall Islands, Vanuatu or Seychelles cannot be considered as safest for the clients’ funds and the authorities there do not guarantee the protection of accounts. Also, despite the claims of the registration in Bulgaria, the broker is not licensed there.
According to the regulator's official warning, both companies and the brand name were banned: "for the provision of unauthorised investment services and activities to the Italian public performed by Nordic Pearl Ltd and Grand Services Ltd via the www.fxginvest.com website". Obviously, FXG Invest is not a reliable and serious company. To add more confusion, the contact number on the website has a Swiss phone code, however, the address is Bulgarian.
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. A good example of such are the ones supervised by the FCA or ASIC. You can read the full review on this broker here.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has updated its blacklist to include Brokerz and MGM Markets. The financial regulator was alerted to the firms after they made unsolicited calls or sent emails about investing, financial advice, credit or loans.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia’s corporate regulator. ASIC’s role is to enforce and regulate company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors.

Brokerz is a Forex and CFDs broker, owned by Brokerz ltd and registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Usually the companies that operate in the offshore areas are not licensed nor regulated and considered to be frauds. Most probably, Brokerz operates without a valid forex broker license as nothing is mentioned about license, nor regulation on the website.

As to the MGM Markets, the company claims to be located in the United Kingdom. Although, there is no information about this company on the Financial Conduct Authority (British regulator). As to the clients’ reviews, there are lot of negative ones can be found on the net. The company refuses to process their withdrawal requests and the managers are constantly pushing them to put in more money instead. 

Considering the above said, both brokers seem highly suspicious. There are many fraudulent firms out there and most of them are operating without a proper broker license. Investing in such companies is extremely risky and it is recommended to select among brokerages regulated by UK’s FCA, Australia’s ASIC or CySEC. You can read our reviews on Brokerz and MGM Markets here.

According to the official notice, on 12 September 2019, Supercapital ceased to provide any regulated business. Supercapital has updated its website to this effect. Also, on 27 September 2019, Kevin Goldfarb and Stephen Hunt of Griffins Insolvency Practitioners LLP (Griffins) were appointed as joint administrators of Supercapital.

Supercapital Ltd (Supercapital) is authorised by the FCA to provide payment services under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. This UK payment company provides payment solutions for banks, wealth managers, and some retail FX brokers.

The Griffins Insolvency Practitioners, appointed administrators, are responsible for managing customer claims against the firm and distributing funds back to customers where possible. The administrators are required to provide a report to creditors within 8 weeks of their appointment. The report will provide details of Supercapital’s history and the administrator’s proposals.

The customers who have money with Supercapital were told to contact the joint administrators if they are concerned, have any questions or for any updates.

Probably not a very pleasant fact is that the customers funds are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). It is because the scheme is not applied to the payment services. The FSCS only includes certain types of activity.

The regulator has also warned customers about possible frauds and asked to stay alert. If they are being cold-called or approached by a company offering help in recovering funds, they should immediately end the call and contact the company or the FCA directly. 

Spain’s financial markets and services regulator CNMV has issued warnings against two forex brokers Dax1001 and ICE-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?

Dax1001 is a Forex broker that offers trading in Forex, CFDs on goods, metals, energy and shares. The company is owned and operated by One Thousand One Ltd., 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. 

ICE-FX is a Forex broker, owned and operated by ICE-FX Markets Limited and registered in Malaysia by the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre. Judging from the languages supported on the website, the broker has been targeting residents of Russia, Spain and Portugal. However, ICE-FX is not regulated in any of these countries. Previously, the company was registered in Vanuatu which is still an offshore zone same as Malaysia. 

We always advise traders to avoid dealing with unregulated forex brokers, such as Dax1001 and ICE-FX. You can also share your experience with these brokers by commenting on this post.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) warns the public against the activities of two forex brokers MegatradeFX and CodexFX. These companies have been offering investments without complying with Austrian financial legislation. According to the official statements, MegatradeFX and CodexFX are not entitled to carry out banking transactions in Austria that require a licence.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) is an independent, autonomous and integrated authority for the Austrian financial market. The Austrian FMA is responsible for: contributing to the stability of Austria as a financial market; reinforcing confidence in the ability of the Austrian financial market to function; protecting investors, creditors and consumers.

Are these brokers legit?

MegaTradeFX claims to be a leading provider of online foreign exchange trading, CFD trading and other financial services. MegaTradeFX is owned by Macro Projects Ltd. According to the website, the broker is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and is based on the Marshall Islands. The brokers registered in these offshore zones are not overseen by any authority and are not subject to any regulatory regime. Moreover, MegaTradeFX has been blacklisted by other regulators, such as FCA and CNMV. You can read our full MegaTradeFX review here. 

As to the CodexFX,  leading provider of Online Foreign Exchange (Forex) trading, spread betting and other related services is owned and operated by Codexfx Ltd., registered in the Marshall Islands. Obviously, just as many other offshore unregulated brokers, CodexFX should not be trusted. 

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

You can share your trading experience with MegatradeFX and CodexFX by commenting on this post.

Austria’s financial markets and services regulator FMA has warned that Forex broker KontoFX is not licensed to carry out banking operations in the country. In essence, this means the company cannot operate in Austria.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) is an independent, autonomous and integrated authority for the Austrian financial market. The Austrian FMA is responsible for: contributing to the stability of Austria as a financial market; reinforcing confidence in the ability of the Austrian financial market to function; protecting investors, creditors and consumers.

KontoFX is a Forex and CFDs broker that also offers cryptocurrency trading and operates through the website www.kontofx.com. According to the regulator's warning, the brokerage is owned and operated by two companies, Estonia-based NTMT Transformatic Markets OU and Hungary-based Northside Business Centres. All the companies offering financial services in Estonia should be authorized by the local Financial Supervision Authority. However, there are no records about KontoFX or its parent companies in the regulator's register.

The company doesn't just lack proper regulation but also has been blacklisted by one more regulator - Financial Conduct Authority.  This is going to be our biggest concern about KontoFX. In addition, numerous negative reviews from the scammed clients only prove that the broker cannot be trusted.

When choosing a new Forex broker, it is very important to verify that they are in fact licensed for investors from your country of residence. Trading with a licensed broker ensures you will not have issues withdrawing your investment. The most trustworthy brokers are those registered with such regulators as FCA in the United Kingdom and ASIC in Australia. You can read our review on this broker here.

According to reports, online broker FIXI PLC has initiated the process of returning funds to customers. In an e-mail sent to the client, the company said that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved its processing of customer withdrawal requests.
A customer service representative at FIXI PLC confirmed that the withdrawal had started a few days ago, but it is currently not possible to confirm the time required to process all customer withdrawal requests.
FIXI PLC has started sending the letters to its clients, which means it has started the process of the withdrawals. The clients will need to send their account statements, so the company can review the withdrawal request.

We want to remind the readers that in December 2018 FIXI PLC shared on its website that it ceased operations after consulting with the UK regulator. The company requested that the UK regulator imposes restrictions on the company and its business. The firm published an official announcement on its website detailing the events that led to the decision. Client funds held by the company have been frozen by the UK financial regulator. After the FCA honored the request of the firm, it mandated Fixi PLC to immediately cease all regulated activities. The UK regulator allowed the broker to close any open positions it held for itself or clients before December 28. You can read our full FIXI PLC review here.