The United Kingdom’s financial markets watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), today warned that it believes an unauthorized company under the name Axeworth Securities has been providing financial services or products to UK residents without regulatory permission, according to an FCA announcement.
All firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorised by the FCA.
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The FCA warned that this brokerage firm may be a scam and added that it was flagged for operating and targeting UK citizens without a license.
The FCA pointed out that the company is based out of Geneva, Switzerland and also maintains a presence in other jurisdictions while soliciting its clients using its website www.axeworthsecurities.ch.
As of the time of publication, Axeworth Securities has taken down all website pages though it’s not clear if the action was a result of the warning or not.
The FCA has waged war on unregistered Online Trading firms and clone companies, and the number of brokers on its blacklist continues to grow. Last week, the British regulator issued a warning on Friday against two entities – a Forex brokerage firm has been falsely claiming registration, and a clone that has been posing as being affiliated with banking giant Morgan Stanley.
Besides clarifying that the firm in question lacks the proper authorisation to be targeting British customers, the FCA also said in its official statement that it strongly advises investors to only deal with financial firms that are authorised, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are.
British regulatory body further added: “You should be aware that if you give money to an unauthorised firm, you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.”
