ASIC has announced the cancellation of the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Sydney-based financial services provider KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd, effective 22 November 2019.

Previously, the regulator has suspended the AFS licence until 23 September 2020.

After the suspension commenced, KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd advised ASIC that all relevant officers of the company had resigned and that the company had ceased to carry on a financial services business. Considering this fact, ASIC has cancelled the company’s AFS licence.   

It was noted that since the suspension of KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd’s AFS licence, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has received multiple complaints from people located offshore regarding a company purporting to be  KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd.

On the information currently available to it, ASIC does not know if there is a link between the entity provoking the complaints to AFCA and the formerly licensed Australian entity. 

In its official statement, the Australian regulator advised consumers to exercise caution in relation to any company purporting to offer financial services under the name KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd.

You may check our list of the ASIC-Regulated Brokers.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) warns the public against the activities of two forex brokers Dax-300 and TorOption. These companies have been offering investments without complying with Austrian financial legislation. According to the official statements, Dax-300 and TorOption 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.

Dax-300 is a Forex broker, owned and operated by ELRICS Brothers Ltd., registered offshore in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We’d want to remind that the FSA of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines has announced that it does not issue any licenses for forex trading or brokerage nor does it regulate, monitor, supervise or license international companies, which engage in such activities.

As to the TorOption, the broker's platform has been suspended, probably due to multiple warnings from regulatory entities. The broker claimed to be owned and operated by Smart Choice Zone LP., registered in Scotland. However, it operated with no license or supervision from the respected industry authorities. 

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 share your experience with Dax-300 and TorOption by commenting on this post.

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. AllTradeMarkets and CFD2FXPRO 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.

Are these brokers legit?

AllTradeMarkets is a Forex and Cryptocurrency broker. The company is operated by UAB ELNIRA. According to the website, AllTradeMarkets is incorporated under the laws of Lithuania and having its registered office in Vilnius. However, the local regulator, Bank of Lithuania, s well as any other regulator, does not supervise this firm. 

CFD2FXPRO is a Forex and CFDs broker. The company is operated by Lion Finance Ltd, and claims to the registered in St. Vincent And The Grenadines. The company doesn't provide any contact details or regulatory information and seems like just another offshore company that should be avoided. 

As to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (FSA) registration, we keep reminding remind that FSA has announced that it does not issue any licenses for forex trading or brokerage nor does it regulate, monitor, supervise or license international companies, which engage in such activities.

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 AllTradeMarkets and CFD2FXPRO by commenting on this post.

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a warning against the forex and CFD broker СFD Corporate. A broker has been targeting UK citizens, claiming to be authorised by FCA, while actually it is not. CFD Corporate give its investors a trading platform for Forex and CFD trading called TraderSoft. There are hundreds of assets available for trading, including Forex, Stocks, Commodities and Market Indices. According to its site www.cfdcorporate.com, the broker is based in Switzerland, but there is no regulatory information about it. The company owning the broker – Mpower Technologies Ltd – is based in Cyprus, but there's still no information about its registration, as it should've been licensed by CySec then. 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. Also, some people complain that after making a solid amounts from their investments and requesting withdrawals, the broker drained the account by placing numerous fake trades. The most important thing to look for at a Forex broker is a license from a legitimate government regulator like the FCA in United Kingdom or ASIC in Australia. A broker that is licensed must follow certain rules and regulations to ensure a safe trading environment. That's the main reason why you should go for a properly regulated broker. You can read our review on this broker here.

The Austrian regulator AFMA (Austrian Financial Market Authority) has issued a warning against Forex and CFD broker Tradeu2. The brokerage firm was offering financial products and services to Austrian residents without being authorized in the country. 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. The broker Tradeu2 operates on the website tradeu2.com and has 4 different offices mentioned, the head office is in the St.Vincent and the Grenadines and three other offices in Italy, Germany and Spain. The broker might have an offshore license, but it doesn’t mean it can target European citizens without also being registered in those EU countries. Nonetheless, the broker does not claim to be regulated by any governmental agency and it obviously isn’t. In order to offer and provide financial services in Austria, the broker requires regulatory approval from the AFMA which it does not have. All the alerts and warnings issued by such regulators as AFMA serve to protect not only investors from fraudulent companies but, also they divide the legitimate from the illegitimate, the reputations of trustworthy firms.

UK's financial markets and service providers regulator FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has added one more forex broker to its warning list of unauthorised companies. This time it is ISGXchange broker. FCA doesn't usually provide a lot of information about the blacklisted company, except that it claims to be located in United Kingdom and offers its services to the UK residents, but doesn't appear to be licensed by the regulator, as it is required.

ISGXchange operates on the isgxchange.com and offers customers trading with Forex assets. The firm claims to have two offices as there are two addresses provided on the website: London, United Kingdom and Copenhagen, Denmark. However, the broker is not authorized with either UK's FCA or Danish Financial Supervisory Authority. Without proper authorization, there is no way for regulators to protect investors from fraudulent activity, due to a lack of monitoring by any governing body to ensure that proper practices are being adhered to by the companies. The company is previously known as IG Options Exchange and was providing binary options trading to the customers, but was blacklisted by the main regulators. Also the clients of the company keep on leaving negative reviews on the web about aggressive and arrogant employees who refuse to release their money, when clients request it. All the warnings from the regulators are meant to protect the public from fraudulent unlawful financial activity. They proceed to tell investors to avoid dealing or investing with unregulated entities and to refrain from transferring funds to the them. You can read our review on this broker here.