The Central Bank of Ireland warns against Capital Hall

The Central Bank of Ireland logo
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 logo
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.

HFM Introduces Copy Cent Account for Copy Trading

HFM Copy Cent Account for Copy Trading

HFM, a renowned global multi-asset broker, has announced that the Cent Account is now available for Copy Trading. Copy Cent is available to both Followers and Strategy Providers who have joined HFcopy Trading. Traders have the option to track their preferred Strategy Providers and initiate trade replication with only a few cents.

Why open a Copy Cent account:

  • Copy other traders with minimal funds.
  • Diversify your trading portfolio by allocating cents across various traders and markets.
  • Explore different trading strategies and markets.
  • Test and fine-tune your trading strategies with less capital. 

For more information about the advantages of the Copy Cent account visit the HFM website.

About HFM

HFM, previously recognized as HotForex, stands as the brand under HF Markets Group. This globally recognized multi-asset broker serves a diverse clientele of more than 3.5 million active accounts worldwide. Accumulating a remarkable track record spanning twelve years, HFM has secured over 60 esteemed industry awards. The company provides a range of account options, inventive products, platforms, tools, and educational materials. Alongside exceptional customer support, it offers unmatched trading conditions to facilitate individuals and institutional customers to trade Forex and CFDs online.

Spain’s regulator warns of Lockwood Investments forex broker

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.

Lockwood Investments logo
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.

Italian regulator has warned against PtBanc and 247 World BTC Fx

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 logo

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.

Belgian FSMA warns against unregulated broker PBN Capital


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 logo

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.

RoboForex Receives the License of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus

National Bank of the Republic of Belarus logo

RoboForex, an international financial company, has received a license from the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus. Its affiliated company was listed in the forex companies registry in accordance with the country’s current and local legislation.

To enter a new market, RoboForex and RoboMarkets joined their expertise and financial technology efforts to provide their clients with the best possible quality of services. After careful consideration, the Companies made a decision to use the RoboForex brand for offering their services in the region. The decision was motivated by RoboForex’s sound experience in the provision of financial services, wide brand awareness among CIS clients and the ability to provide competitive trading conditions corresponding to its clients’ needs.

RoboForex Review

Over ninety-seven Forex trading instruments, Metals, Commodities, Indices, and CFDs on stocks will be available for the clients of the Company. Access to trading operations will be made through the MetaTrader 4 platform.

Andrei Dziarnovich, CEO RoboForex BY, is commenting on the event:

“Receiving the license of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus is a very important step of our expansion in CIS countries. Our key priority is to lead the industry whilst providing quality services on global financial markets, attractive trading conditions, and reliable protection of our clients’ interests.”

RoboForex Group recognized by the most respected experts of the Financial Market while operating since 2009 through 2 world companies RoboForex with operation around the world and RoboMarkets Ltd that support countries if the EU and the EEA. The company serves numerous clients around 800,000, from 170 countries and brings support in 18 languages, with the focus to develop trading offering by innovative technology solutions and numerous modern tools for trading. You can read our full RoboForex review here.

FMA of Austria warned against Prestige Financial Markets and FX Crypto Club

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) warns the public against the activities of two forex brokers Prestige Financial Markets and FX Crypto Club. These companies have been offering investments without complying with Austrian financial legislation. According to the official statements, these brokers 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.

You might also like forex trading for beginners.

Are these brokers legit?

FX Crypto Club is owned and operated by CapCorp Ltd, incorporated in the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. Due to the setup cost is low and it does not regulate forex trading. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as GoldmanCFD, Obsbit and more. 

Prestige Financial Markets logo

Prestige Financial Markets claims to be a leading and regulated broker in the trading industry. However, we have some doubts about its regulation. The company is owned by AllProTech OÜ. AllProTech OÜ operates some other brokers that we have previously reviewed (AlphaCapital, 10Brokers and Prestige.FM) and has been blacklisted by several regulators in Europe. Obviously, all the brokers associated with the AllProTech OÜ should be avoided. 

We advise all investors and traders to avoid unregulated offshore brokers. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as eToro and FXTM.

You can share your trading experience with Prestige Financial Markets and FX Crypto Club by commenting on this post.

Jerome Powell To Lead the Fed for Another Four Years

Jerome Powell To Lead the Fed for Another Four Years

The White House and Joe Biden have, as expected, nominated Fed Chairman Powell for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed). Lael Brainard will be vice-chair of the Fed, taking the reins from Richard Clarida, the current vice-chairman, whose time on the board of governors is set to expire in January. Clarida decided to file for resignation in October after allegations of insider trading.

The WH statement read,

“We can't just return to where we were before the pandemic, we need to build our economy back better, and I'm confident that Chair Powell and Dr. Brainard's focus on keeping inflation low, prices stable, and delivering full employment will make our economy more robust than ever before.”

US inflation is at 30-year highs (with the core CPI above 4% and regular CPI above 6% yearly) and shows no signs of easing. Well, for some people, it still may be considered as "low inflation and stable prices." 

The decision was taken hawkishly as investors perceived Lael Brainard more-dovishly, sending the two-year yield to new cycle highs just below 0.6% and shifting the market's expectations for a first rate-hike from July 2022 to June 2022.

At the same time, the USD index followed yields higher, rising to 96.50, undermining precious metals. At the time of writing, gold was down 2% at 1,810 USD, while silver plunged nearly 1.5% to trade at around 24.30 USD.

Equities reacted in a volatile way, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 falling, while the SP500 and Dow Jones index were trading higher on the day.

It looks like gold will retest its 200-day moving average at around 1,790 USD. Another strong support is expected at the ascending trend line near 1,785 USD. Suppose the bullion drops below these two zones. In that case, the medium-term uptrend could be over, possibly hitting stop-losses of long positions and sending the metal further lower, targeting 1,760 USD in the initial reaction.

Alternatively, if bulls reappear, gold needs to get back above 1,830 USD to cancel the immediate bearish threat. 

Austria’s FMA has issued a warning against CarterFS broker

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 logo

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.