The UK financial regulator Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued its warning against an unregulated trading company that tries to reach out British investors. This warning concerns a Forex trading company Tait Investment Group (www.taitinvestmentgroup.com) The company Tait Investment Group is not authorized by the FCA and also it carries on regulated activities that require authorization. The broker firm offers trading Forex, stocks and CFDs. The company claims to be located in London, United Kingdom and regulated by Financial Conduct Authority. They also state that Tait Investment Group is a member of the London Stock Exchange and an approved HM Revenue & Customs ISA (Individual Savings Accounts) Manager. In its warning the FCA mentioned that Tait Investment Group is not actually operating from the address provided on the website. Also the FCA registration number on the website does not belong to the firm. It's obvious that the firm acts without the authorisation and most probably runs investment scam. Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by the FCA. The regulator advises investors to check company names of Forex brokers in the Financial Services Register, kept by the FCA. Investors should also keep in mind that their funds are not covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if the company they are dealing with is not authorized by FCA. You can read our review on this broker here.

According to the latest warning of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Forex and CFD broker 8inFX was blacklisted as it is not licensed or authorized by the regulator, although was targeting the UK customers. 8inFX offers trading in many currency pairs, as well as various CFDs – on indices, commodities, stocks and cryptocurrencies. The brokerage is owned by 2dots Limited, and the website provides the address of the head office which is in Vanuatu. Vanuatu is one of the popular offshore destinations where the brokers get their forex licenses. It is quite risky to trade with these firms. Usually the companies that operate in the offshore areas (such as Republic of Vanuatu) are not licensed nor regulated and considered to be frauds. Most probably, 8inFX operates without a valid forex broker license as nothing is mentioned about license, nor regulation on the website. Also there is no phone number provided and the customers should request the calls on the website. Moreover, not only FCA warns about this broker, but also the Italian CONSOB has issued a warning against 8inFX. The first thing the potential investor should do when he is choosing a trading company is to determine if it is a legitimate broker or a scam broker. It is very easy to do. You just need to check if the broker is licensed by CySec in Cyprus, or it is under the regulation of the MIFId in the European Union (EU), or it is registered with the UK's FCA  or Australian ASIC. You can read our review on this broker here.

Spain’s financial markets and services regulator CNMV has issued a warning against InvestingPRO. According to the public warning notice, InvestingPRO, operated by Milton Group LTD/Kyoto Limited LTD, is 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.

InvestingPRO is a broker that operates through the website www.investingpro.com and offers Forex and CFD solutions to institutional and private investors. There are two companies behind the brand. Milton Group LTD, registered in the Marshall Islands, which means it is an offshore entity and there is a high risk for the customers when dealing with this firm. The second company is Kyoto Limited LTD., registered in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The website also mentions two contact numbers in Italy and Poland, 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.

In order to operate legally, investment firms need a license by the local relevant authorities or the authorities of any other EU member state. We strongly advise traders to select among brokerages authorized by reputable regulators, such as EU ones (FCA, CySEC) or Australia’s ASIC.

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 with one new addition – Capital Swiss FX. This broker has 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 government authority of Italy responsible for regulating the Italian securities market. This includes the regulation of the Italian stock exchange, the Borsa Italiana.

Capital Swiss FX is a broker that offers assets choice from four different classes including Currency Pairs, Commodities, Indices or Treasuries. There are two companies behind the brand's name, Swiss Cap Ltd,  registered offshore, on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Swiss Capital Group Ltd., that claims to be located in London, UK. However, the second company is not authorized by the FCA in the UK. As to the Swiss Cap Ltd., offshore registration usually doesn’t guarantee the safety of funds and clients’ protection, especially in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where local authority doesn’t issue forex licenses. In addition, Capital Swiss FX and Swiss Capital Ltd. have also been blacklisted by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

There are many negative reviews about the broker can be found online. People share their bad experience, pointing out cold calling and almost forcing clients to invest. They state that Capital Swiss FX refuses to withdraw their investments, offering to invest more.

Considering all the above, we would not recommend you investing with Capital Swiss FX. Instead, we advise our readers to avoid dealing with unregulated entities and choose among the reliable and regulated ones. There is a number of properly licensed firms, like the ones regulated by the FCA, ASIC or CySEC.

You can read our review on this broker here.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (‘CySEC’) issued an announcement-warning with regard to Worldwide CapitalFX - a forex brokerage brand that is not authorized to provide investment services and/or perform investment activities in the country.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, known as CySEC, is the financial regulatory agency of Cyprus. As an EU member state, CySEC’s financial regulations and operations comply with the European MiFID financial harmonization law. A significant number of overseas retail forex brokers have obtained registration from CySEC.

Worldwide CapitalFX offers a wide range of trading assets including binary options, cryptocurrencies, Forex and Contracts for Difference. According to the website, the broker is owned and operated by Algobit Ltd. and claims to be located and regulated in the USA. However, the company is not overseen by any authority in the USA or any other country and, moreover, Algobit Ltd. is registered in Seychelles. 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.
There are at least two major red flags when it comes to investing with Worldwide CapitalFX, offshore registration, and false regulation info. Obviously, we wouldn't recommend traders to deal with this broker and think about more reliable options.
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.

Italy’s financial markets and services regulator CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa) has warned that the forex broker Time4X 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. Time4X is a Forex and CFD broker that operates through the www.time4x.co website. The company is owned by FAH Investment LTD. CONSOB does not provide much additional information, but the broker's site reveals that it is yet another one registered on the St.Vincent and The Grenadines. Much like the Marshall Islands or Vanuatu, the group of Pacific islands is the preferred location for unregulated Forex. They also provide UK number on the website and three languages for the website's users (English, Italian and German), which means that most probably the firm was targeting not only Italian residents. Investing with a properly regulated broker is crucial for the safety of any investment. Here we should note that along with FCA, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), two other well respected institutions, also enforce strict regulatory standards upon all brokers in their jurisdiction. You can read our review on this broker here.