Clone of UK Fintech Revolut Draws France AMF’s Attention

Monday, 14/12/2020 | 20:06 GMT by Aziz Abdel-Qader
  • The cloned site has a link encouraging potential victims to make deposits, with almost identical wording to the real company.
Clone of UK Fintech Revolut Draws France AMF’s Attention
Bloomberg

France’s top financial regulator has published a new list of investment websites that do not have authorization to operate within the country, including the so-called digital asset service providers (DASPs).

This time, one of the internet domains that came under the spotlight of the AMF called revolut.acces-premium.com which raises a number of red flags characteristic of investment scams. Specifically, this copycat website has been posing as a London headquartered FCA regulated financial technology startup, Revolut.

Additionally, the cloned site has a link encouraging potential victims to make deposits with almost identical wording to the real company.

Moreover, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) warned investors to watch out for other websites that claim their services were developed or authorized in France to lure and possibly scam them.

The list of recently identified sites includes the following domain names:

  • revolut.acces-premium.com
  • helveafunds.com
  • www.bitcoinrevolution.org

The AMF said that the full list of unauthorized sites is available on the regulator’s website, and emphasized that these domains may change very quickly and that the list is not meant to be exhaustive.

Revolut Bolstered Its Regulatory Profile

Finally, the AMF recommends that traders seeking to invest in France do so only with financial institutions authorized to do business in the country. Further, the AMF warns market participants that “any unauthorized intermediaries run the risk of criminal sanctions” and advises against responding to offers from any broker on the published lists.

Any financial intermediary offering or recommending investments must be on the list of financial institutions authorized to do business in France, as can be verified via www.regafi.fr. A list of authorized intermediaries in additional investor adviser categories can be accessed on orias.fr/search.

Revolut has recently bolstered its regulatory profile, having applied for a bank charter with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and California’s Division of Financial Institutions. Further, it has been among a number of app-only Fintech companies that are looking to branch into banking as they diversify their revenue stream and bring new services to their existing customers.

The neobank made a big splash last week with the addition of four new Cryptocurrencies to its trading catalog available to customers in Europe.

France’s top financial regulator has published a new list of investment websites that do not have authorization to operate within the country, including the so-called digital asset service providers (DASPs).

This time, one of the internet domains that came under the spotlight of the AMF called revolut.acces-premium.com which raises a number of red flags characteristic of investment scams. Specifically, this copycat website has been posing as a London headquartered FCA regulated financial technology startup, Revolut.

Additionally, the cloned site has a link encouraging potential victims to make deposits with almost identical wording to the real company.

Moreover, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) warned investors to watch out for other websites that claim their services were developed or authorized in France to lure and possibly scam them.

The list of recently identified sites includes the following domain names:

  • revolut.acces-premium.com
  • helveafunds.com
  • www.bitcoinrevolution.org

The AMF said that the full list of unauthorized sites is available on the regulator’s website, and emphasized that these domains may change very quickly and that the list is not meant to be exhaustive.

Revolut Bolstered Its Regulatory Profile

Finally, the AMF recommends that traders seeking to invest in France do so only with financial institutions authorized to do business in the country. Further, the AMF warns market participants that “any unauthorized intermediaries run the risk of criminal sanctions” and advises against responding to offers from any broker on the published lists.

Any financial intermediary offering or recommending investments must be on the list of financial institutions authorized to do business in France, as can be verified via www.regafi.fr. A list of authorized intermediaries in additional investor adviser categories can be accessed on orias.fr/search.

Revolut has recently bolstered its regulatory profile, having applied for a bank charter with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and California’s Division of Financial Institutions. Further, it has been among a number of app-only Fintech companies that are looking to branch into banking as they diversify their revenue stream and bring new services to their existing customers.

The neobank made a big splash last week with the addition of four new Cryptocurrencies to its trading catalog available to customers in Europe.

About the Author: Aziz Abdel-Qader
Aziz Abdel-Qader
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About the Author: Aziz Abdel-Qader
  • 4984 Articles
  • 31 Followers

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