The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) has issued a warning notice today against eight unlicensed platforms offering trading services with contracts for difference, cryptocurrency, and Forex .
The blacklisted domain addresses are:
- elite-fxmarket.com
- bigliquidity.com
- avafinancials.com
- pfcapfx.com
- reset-invest.com
- reliabletradeoptions.com
- prcbrokers.com
- prc-brokers.com
The market watchdog stressed that none of these domains belong to any regulated entities and are illegally offering brokerage services to the investors.
It also warned that if consumers lost their money on the platforms that are not licensed, they are not protected under the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF), which serves to protect the claims of covered clients and provide them with compensation in case a member could not meet its financial obligations.
Financial Crimes Are Increasing Rapidly
CySEC is vigilant against illegal platforms operating in the market and using its name to gain investor’s trust. Previously, the watchdog also warned against illegal platforms that spun off from shuttered brokerages. Most of these platforms falsely claim to hold CIF licenses.
The fresh list was published only a week after the watchdog flagged seven other suspicious domains for duping investors with similar services and claims.
The Cypriot regulator is also thoroughly scrutinizing the operations of the authorized brokers and took actions against many for breach of compliance.
Recently, the regulator settled with the 24option operator Rodeler for €280,000, after suspending the license of the broker for unauthorized practices. Notably, this brokerage was also banned by the CySEC counterparts in the United Kingdom and Italy.
Meanwhile, regulators across Europe are now updating such lists to restrict illegal brokerages and warn the investors. A similar blacklist is also maintained by Italian regulator CONSOB that already added 268 suspicious trading platforms to it.
