Category: Regulation

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a Decision Notice to ban Darren Lee Newton, the owner of debt management business, from working in any regulated activity in the financial services sector. The investigation conducted by the FCA found that in October 2013 Mr. Newton funded the purchase of a debt reduction service First Step from Christine Whitehurst with £322,500 of client money, when he should have used his own funds. After purchasing the shares of Christine Whitehurst, he became a director of the First Step as she resigned on the same day. The previous owner of the First Step were Christine Whitehurst and her husband, who were also banned by the FCA for misappropriating over £6 million of company's money. The FCA found that Newton knew the money should only be used to pay clients' creditors or to be returned to clients, but despite this, he still allowed the funds to be taken from First Step and paid to the Whitehursts. In the decision notice, the regulator states that Mr. Newton acted with a 'serious lack of honesty and integrity' and caused a serious risk to customers investments. One of his responsibilities was to protect clients and maintain the integrity of the UK financial system. Since failing to maintain his commitment, he got a prohibition order from the FCA. Currently, Mr. Newton is trying to dispute the decision of the FCA and referring the issue to the Upper Tribunal.

The Switzerland financial markets and service providers regulator FINMA has warned of unregulated forex broker Rocket Consultant Group.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is the Swiss government body responsible for financial regulation. This includes the supervision of banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges, and securities dealers, as well as other financial intermediaries in Switzerland. FINMA keeps a close eye on the unregulated brokers and usually warns in a timely manner of those who make false claims of Swiss regulation or location but are not Swiss-regulated.

The broker Rocket Consultant Group operates through the website www.rocketconsultantgroup.com and provides an online trading platform for Forex, Contracts for Difference and options. The company is owned and operated by Rocket Consultant Group Ltd. that claims to be based in Zurich, Switzerland. The broker also claims to have offices in Panama, Germany, and Hong Kong. In order to do business, the broker would need to get licenses from regulated in specific countries. However, it seems Rocket Consultant Group has been targeting traders from different countries without being authorized there and it is actually not licensed or overseen by any of the financial regulators.
In addition, the broker has one more warning and it is from the British Columbia Securities Commission. In its notice, the regulator states that Rocket Consultant Group accepted funds from a British Columbia (BC) residents to trade with the company. RCG is not registered to trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in BC.
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 FINMA.
You can read our review on this broker here.

Italy’s financial markets and services provider regulator CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa) has updated its list of forex brokers who are not licensed to operate in Italy. Go Capital FX and Swissinv24 are 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.

There is one and most important thing that companies have in common, they are both registered offshore, which doesn't actually add more trust to them. 

Go Capital FX is a Forex and CFD broker, owned by Lancelot Equity Ltd. and registered in the Commonwealth of Dominica. The broker claims to be located in Bulgaria, but for some reason provides Austrian contact phone number. However, Go Capital FX is not licensed in any of these countries. Moreover, it has been blacklisted by several regulators. 

As to the Swissinv24, this forex broker is registered in the Marshall Islands. The broker doesn't provide any information about its regulation and doesn't actually seem to be regulated. Despite it's "Swiss" company name, Swissinv24 has been banned in Switzerland by its local regulator FINMA.

It is now clear that the mentioned brokers should be avoided at all cost. You can check our full Go Capital FX and Swissinv24 reviews and also share your experience of dealing with these companies in the comments to this post.

The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), which also serves as a financial services supervisor, issued a warning against Capital Hall. According to CBI’s official notice, this forex and CFD broker has been offering financial services and/or investment advice to the Irish investors without being authorised.
The Central Bank of Ireland (Irish: Banc Ceannais na hÉireann) is Ireland’s central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It is Ireland’s financial services regulator for most categories of financial firms. The Central Bank of Ireland serves the public interest by safeguarding monetary and financial stability and by working to ensure that the financial system operates in the best interests of consumers and the wider economy.
The CBI also keeps a register of regulated companies and anyone can check whether a certain forex broker is licensed in the country or not. Besides, the CBI regularly publishes official warnings of unregulated companies that target local investors.

Capital Hall has specialized in financial investment solutions since 2016, and at the moment our area of expertise includes contracts for difference (CFDs), indices, currency and cryptocurrency pairs, precious metals, energy assets and securities. The company is owned by Capital Tech Ltd registration number 92819, Marshall Islands and operated by Pbox Ltd, registration number 204767374, Bulgaria. Despite the provided information about the Bulgarian registration, the broker is not registered or authorized by the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission. Obviously, both companies are not authorized and do not hold licenses to provide financial services.
We also keep on reminding that offshore-based brokers should be avoided, as those brokers registered offshore are not considered as reliable ones, because they are basically are not overseen by any authority.
It is better to choose among brokers licensed by the respective authorities in the UK, or Australia for example. For instance, a broker registered with the UK’s FCA can’t simply take investor’s money and disappear. They follow multiple reporting procedures and have to keep client funds segregated from the company’s. You can read our review on this broker here.

Spain's financial markets regulator, the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), has issued a warning that the forex broker Lockwood Investments is not is not authorized to provide investment and auxiliary financial services 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 broker operates through the website www.lockwoodinv.com and offers Forex and CFD trading. There are two companies behind this brand. MEDIA GROUP LTD is operates Lockwood Investments and is based in the St. Vincent & The Grenadines, where the main office of the company is located. It means the broker is an offshore entity and there is a high risk for the customers when dealing with this firm. The second company is SolutionsCM LTD that claims to be regulated by the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission. However, there is no records of this firm in the regulator's register, which means the broker provides false information.
The website also supports various languages (British, Spanish, Italian, French and Arabic), and probably the company has been targeting residents of these countries. Although, the company is not licensed in any of those countries, and there is no regulatory body that monitors its activity to ensure it sticks to best practices. We definitely wouldn't recommend trading with unregulated broker like Lockwood Investments.
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.

Unregulated forex brokers PtBanc and 247 World BTC Fx have been some 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 brokers to cease their illegal operations 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.

247 World BTC Fx is a Forex broker, owned and operated by Game Capital Ads Limited and claims to have offices in Switzerland and the UK. The broker shares the information about its regulation with the Swiss FINMA, providing the Approved Swiss collective investment schemes list on the website. We went to the regulators site and checked the same list to found out that 247 World BTC Fx is not listed there, therefore, is not regulated in Switzerland. 

In addition, the owner-company Game Capital Ads Limited has been banned several times by other regulatory authorities in other countries. 

As to the PtBanc, it is an offshore Forex broker registered in the Marshall Islands. The company doesn't provide any regulatory information and claims to be located in Luxemburg. Despite this claims, the company got in the warning list of the Luxemburg regulator CSSF and later was blacklisted by the UK's FCA. You can read our full PtBanc review here. 

All these facts are more than enough to stay away from the aforementioned brokers. 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.

Also, you can share your trading experience with PtBanc and 247 World BTC Fx by commenting on this post.

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) warns the public against the activities of PBN Capital a company that offers investments without complying with Belgian financial legislation. According to the official statement, PBN Capital (Capital Tech Ltd / Pbox Ltd) is not allowed to provide banking and/or investment services in or from Belgium.

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.

PBN Capital is a broker owned by the Capital Tech Ltd., based in the Marshall Islands and operated by Bulgaria-based Pbox Ltd. PBN Capital claims its offering of secured currency exchange systems on Forex and CFDs trading with a wide range of instruments. The offshore zones such as the 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.

In addition, the company has previously been banned by several regulators, including warnings from Austria's FMA and Italy's CONSOB. Obviously, PBN Capital 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 offshore.

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.

Austria’s financial markets and services regulator FMA has warned that Forex broker CarterFS 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.

CarterFS is a Forex broker that offers to trade with over 800 high-liquidity assets. Stocks, Commodities, Indices, Currencies and much more. The company is owned and operated by Elit Property Vision LTD, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Also, the terms and conditions on the website state that the company is under the laws of Bulgarian jurisdiction. However, the company is not regulated by its local regulator.

In addition, it turned out CarterFS has previously been owned and operated by Solutions CM LTD, that also owns such unregulated brokers like Lockwood Investments, 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. For example, Solutions CM LTD and its brand Original Crypto have been banned by Italy's CONSOB in December 2018. Also, SolutionsCM LTD and its brand Lockwood Investments have been warned against by Spain's CNMV in April 2018.

Obviously, this information should be enough for the traders to stay away from unregulated broker CarterFS. 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.