New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority today updated its warning list to include binary options broker, FM Trader.
FM Trader operates under the website https://fmtrader.com/ and is a brand owned and operated by FM Marketing LTD which is incorporated in Belize and lists additional addresses both in Cyprus and the UK.
According to the FMA, FM Trader has been cold calling New Zealand residents without being a registered New Zealand company or registered on the Financial Services Providers Register (FSPR). This means the company is strictly prohibited from offering financial services in New Zealand.
Red-Flagged On Several Occasions
FM Trader has been red-flagged by various financial watchdogs on several occasions recently. Canadian provincial regulator, the Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) issued an alert in April warning the public against investing with this firm for being unregistered.
In addition, Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a “Black List” of 37 unauthorised binary options brokers in March 2015 in which FMtrader also appeared.
ASIC Warning
Furthermore, the FMA has also drawn attention to the fact that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) also recently posted a warning about FM Trader via its MoneySmart.gov.au website, advising that this company could be involved in a scam, as reported by Finance Magnates in May.
The FMA reminds consumers to exercise caution when dealing with any business claiming to be registered by the New Zealand watchdog. Its warning list serves to offer investors protection from businesses that are, or have been, registered on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) but are the subject of grievances relating to investor funds or other misconduct that implies customers may lose money. The latest warning is one of several that has been issued by the FMA in recent times and the third time that FM Trader has been flagged for misconduct since March this year.
