Cyprus SEC warned against almost 200 unregistered investment platforms

By Selena 12/24/19 7:54 AM

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has sent warning messages to nearly 200 unregistered investment platforms in the country. Three of them look very similar and falsely advertise to BDSwiss licensed and managed companies, Cyprus SEC said.

Cyprus SEC warns of three investment platforms showing signs of fraud

According to the Cyprus SEC report, the list of unapproved sites currently includes 187 names.

The report stated:

“The domains that are included in the following list are not owned or operated by Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs), which have been authorized by CySEC to provide Investment Services.”

In a December 23 summary, Finance Magnates reported on the four specific illicit investment brokers that CySEC put on its list. These include Nervic Fx Trade, Crypt Fx Tm, Urban Fx Trade, and Intense Fx Trade. The report indicates that these activities are not related to BDSwiss Holding Plc, a legally authorized and licensed trading platform with CySEC.

BDSwiss representative said:

“BDSwiss has established an internal process over the years, and we are alerted both by professional software as well as by clients themselves on clone websites or third parties using our brand name for fraud. BDSwiss Compliance department repeated constant communication with the regulators and took immediate action, reporting fraudulence, and clone websites whenever they come to our attention.”

Also, three of the four platforms mentioned above (Nervic Fx Trade, Crypt Fx Tm, and Intense FX Trade) look almost identical. The difference is that each domain name has a different business name in the top left corner of the website. The platforms seem to offer both forex (FX) trading, as well as cryptocurrency asset trading. Only Urban Fx Trade website is not accessible. It is possible that it was removed.

CySEC has mentioned several companies that claim Cyprus is their primary activity. However, it is clear that those companies are not operating and are not located in Cyprus. And once such necessary information has been faked, will you be assured of trading or using products from them?

CySEC and BDSwiss have not commented on the information so far. AZCoin News will update the situation as soon as more latest announcements.

Harris Georgiades, Minister of Finance of Cyprus

Cyprus has long been a fairly open country with Blockchain and crypto. In early 2019, the finance minister of Cyprus, Harris Georgiades, has said that the country’s Blockchain regulation draft will be ready this year.

Through the report, Georgiades described Blockchain as a new technological revolution similar to that of the Internet.

Georgiades said:

“Full implementation of this technology across the public and private sector is expected to radically change the structures of modern societies, the way they are organized and their operation.”