Spain’s financial markets and services regulator CNMV has issued a warning against two forex brokers FortFS and Merit Forex. 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.

Are these brokers legit? 

FortFS offers trading on Forex and other international financial markets. Fort Financial Services LTD is incorporated in St. Vincent & the Grenadines as an International Business Company. Those brokers registered offshore are not considered as reliable ones, because they are basically are not overseen by any authority. Also, the broker claims to have offices in Malaysia and Indonesia, however, it is not regulated in these countries. 

Merit Forex serves the investors worldwide to trade online Forex, CFD and many other financial instruments. Merit Forex is brand owned by Merit Financial Services Ltd a company incorporated in Vanuatu. The broker also provides regulation info and its VFSC license.

From our source, it costs €24,000 per year to become a member. However, and there is no handbook or guidelines for brokers to run their business. Therefore, there is zero protection for traders. We have a detailed article explaining the risk of trading with brokers from Vanuatu.

Generally, we always advise traders to avoid dealing with unregulated offshore forex brokers, as they may be involved in investment scams. There are a number of properly Regulated Brokers to choose from on our website.

You can share your FortFS and Merit Forex experience with us by commenting on this post.