It’s been a busy start to the week for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the British regulator has posted five warnings on its website on Monday. The flagged firms include a clone company, unauthorized entities, and suspected scams.
The blacklisted companies are Chimera Investment Corporation, Prestige Financial Markets, Bitcoin Loophole/Bitcoin News Trader, Yes Option/Yes Trading and Legal Trade.
The first warning to be published on the regulator’s website was against clone firm Chimera Investment Corporation. The company is attempting to impersonate and insinuate a connection with the FCA authorized company Chimera Partners Ltd. However, the regulator warns that Chimera Investment Corporation is not authorized or registered with the British watchdog and has no association with the legitimate firm.
The regulator warns that consumers should be very wary should they receive a cold call from this company. The clone firm has also tried to copy the legitimate company’s address and website. According to the statement, the clone firm advertises its address as More St, London, SE1 and its website is www.chimerapartnersltd.co.uk.
These details should not be confused with the actually registered firm which is registered at 3 More London Place, London, SE1 2RE and operates through its website www.chimerapartners.com.
FCA blacklists four unauthorized firms
The second warning goes to alleged broker Prestige Financial Markets, owned by AllProTech OÜ. According to the statement, the company has been providing financial services in the United Kingdom without authorization. The firm is based in Estonia at Lõõtsa 6, 11415 Tallinn, Estonia and it operates through https://www.prestige.fm/. According to its website, the broker offers Forex trading through its platform. It also offers market analysis and other financial products.
Bitcoin Loophole and Bitcoin News Trader has also been flagged by the UK watchdog. This is because the company has also been offering financial products to the citizens of Britain without the proper authorization. According to its website, https://bitcoinloophole.com/ clients can trade Bitcoin and base their trades on the latest industry news.
The FCA has also blacklisted Yes Option and Yes Trading for providing financial services or products in the UK without being authorized. The firm claims to have addresses at Marshal Island, Bucharest Romania and in Vilnius, Lithuania. Through its website, investors can trade CFDs for forex. The broker operates through two websites - www.yesoption.com and https://yestrading.com.
The final warning from the British regulator today goes to Legal Trade. Like the firms before it, the company has been accused of providing financial services without authorization or registration in the UK. The firm claims its address to be Aquarius Capital, Independence Ave 6, Seychelle Island and it operates via its website https://legaltrade.co.uk. The company also claims to have a license number 204111128 on the Seychelles.
The FCA warns that individuals should be very wary of all firms that operate in the UK without a license. This is because they could be knowingly running investment scams. As a result, the watchdog urges caution when dealing with all of the above firms.
