Caught Red Handed: CySEC Warns of BDSwiss Clone Firms

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC CySEC The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is a financial regulatory authority of Cyprus. CySEC is one of the key watchdog authorities for brokerages in Europe, whose financial regulations and operations comply with the European MiFID financial harmonization law.Founded in 2001, CySEC is instrumental in providing licensing and registration for forex brokers and previously binary options providers.CySEC is responsible for a variety of different functions, which includes the supervision The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is a financial regulatory authority of Cyprus. CySEC is one of the key watchdog authorities for brokerages in Europe, whose financial regulations and operations comply with the European MiFID financial harmonization law.Founded in 2001, CySEC is instrumental in providing licensing and registration for forex brokers and previously binary options providers.CySEC is responsible for a variety of different functions, which includes the supervision Read this Term) has flagged two websites belonging to foreign exchange (forex) related firms that it believes to be suspicious, this Tuesday. The websites in question belong to Capital Swiss FX and EXPERT FX TRADE.

According to the statement released today, the two websites - capitalswissfx.com and expertfxtrade.com, do not belong to authorized entities. This means they are not allowed to provide investment services in Cyprus.

Despite not being authorized to do so, as you can expect, both websites facilitate the trading of forex and Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term. However, it is important to note that the website EXPERT FX TRADE is blocked on Google.

Taking a look at Capital Swiss FX, according to its website, it is a trading provider for forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities and more. It apparently facilitates this trading through MetaTrader 4 and a trading app.

CySEC states that the abovementioned websites have stolen the license number and content from the website of the Cyprus Investment Firm BDSwiss Holding Plc, a legal entity in Cyprus.

The warning from the regulator says that both websites have copied these details and material illegally and without the authorization of BDSwiss Holding Plc. This theft is evident as when looking at Capital Swiss FX’s website you would be forgiven for feeling a sense of Déjà Vu.

This is because when looking at BDSwiss’ website (https://www.bdswiss.com/) you can see that Capital Swiss FX has even copied the design of the website, in addition to fraudulently stealing its information.

Another Day, Another Clone Firm for CySEC

This type of behaviour is very typical of clone firms. As the name suggests, a clone firm is a scam which has set itself up to appear as another legitimate firm. Sometimes they will try to copy the legit company’s name or brand, and other times it is more subtle, and they will steal small bits of information like the license number or address.

Regardless of what information they steal, the motivation for these fraudsters is simple. They want to appear legitimate, so they can trick people into buying into their scam.

Finishing up the warning, the watchdog states: "CySEC urges investors to consult its website (www.cysec.gov.cy), before conducting business with investment firms, in order to ascertain the entities which are licensed to provide investment services and/or investment activities.”