Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a statement cautioning investors about HKJHFX, which has been offering financial services to the public without being authorized to do so, according to an SFC statement.
HKJHFX says it maintains offices at Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The regulatory body of Hong Kong, however, states that the address is invalid as the unregulated firm is not located in the region, although it may be using the details of a legitimate company to mislead investors. The SFC further notes that the brokerage has a bank account under the same name for Settlement purposes. This knowledge may come in handy for the public if the company changes its name.
HKJHFX is the latest FX broker to be included on the watchdog’s warning list, which comes in parallel with a statement on its website warning residents about the increase in similar solicitations.
Fake Regulatory Status
Interestingly, HKJHFX falsely claims to be regulated by the US National Futures Association (NFA), but without providing any registration number to confirm its regulatory status. A search on the NFA’s website using the company’s name reveals its false claims as no such a company authorized by the independent watchdog.
The NFS self-regulates futures trading and is itself supervised by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ). Both watchdogs were given massive new responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank law, including setting requirements for how much borrowed money, or margin, the firms’ clients can use on currency trades.
The SFC routinely warns of scams operating in Hong Kong, one of the region’s paramount financial markets.
Presently, the SFC’s comprehensive alert list features the names of businesses that have come to the attention of the watchdog because they are unlicensed in Hong Kong and are believed to be, or to have been, targeting Hong Kong investors, or claim to have an association with Hong Kong.
