Cyprus’ Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) recently issued a warning against almost 200 unregistered investment platforms, three of which look strikingly similar and falsely advertise ties to licensed and regulated firm BDSwiss.
The CySEC posted an update to its list of unapproved website addresses on Dec. 10, which now contains 187 different names.
The CySEC noted at the top of its posted list:
“[T]he 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 Dec. 23 brief, Finance Magnates reported on four specific unauthorized investment brokers the CySEC included on its list — Nervic Fx Trade, Crypt Fx Tm, Urban Fx Trade and Intense Fx Trade. The article included that these operations inaccurately stated connection to BDSwiss Holding Plc, a trading platform that is legitimately authorized and licensed with the CySEC.
BDSwiss told Finance Magnates:
“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 maintains constant communication with the regulators and takes immediate action, reporting fraudulence and clone websites whenever they come to our attention.”
Further inspection from Cointelegraph revealed three out of the four platforms mentioned (Nervic Fx Trade, Crypt Fx Tm and Intense FX Trade) look almost exactly the same, although each domain has a different business name in the top left corner of its website page. The platforms appear to offer both foreign exchange (FX) trading, as well as crypto asset trading.
Cointelegraph could not locate Urban Fx Trade, the fourth outfit mentioned, online. It is possible that it has already been taken down.
The CySEC has made prior comments regarding certain companies that declared Cyprus as their home base, explaining a view that such operations were not actually located in Cyprus, but falsely asserted the location as their base, according to the report from Finance Magnates.
Cointelegraph reached out to the CySEC and BDSwiss for comment but received no reply as of press time. This article will be updated with more information should it come in.
Earlier this year, Cointelegraph reported on Cyprus’ finance minister and blockchain regulations for the country.
