Bulgarian Watchdog Warns against Introducing Brokers of Islandbay Services Belize

The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (BFSC) has issued a warning to the trading public in the country against the activities of Islandbay Services LTD operating under the brand name Broker Capital. Islandbay Services is connected to the activities of Markets.com, where it provides an offshore entity to onboarding of introducing brokers in jurisdictions without regulation.

The BFSC said it has received a number of notices regarding the activities of the firms Investors LTD (formerly Aston Markets LTD) and 24 Trade LTD (formerly Exxus Markets LTD) which act as an introducing broker for Islandbay. The watchdog performed an inspection and said it has found that these companies are acting as introducing brokers for Islandbay Services.

The BFSC inspection also revealed that Broker Capital - Islandbay Services LTD is a registered company in Belize and has a license to conduct investment activities which was granted by the Belize International Financial Services Commission on February 1st, 2014. The firm's license is valid until the end of 2014.

Under the laws of Belize, the issued license does not allow firms to offer investment services or conduct trade in countries whose legislation requires a license by the competent authority of the country to perform such activities. Based on this, the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission has warned that company Islandbay Services LTD is not licensed by the BFSC and hence is not eligible to provide investment services and activities under the Markets in Financial Instruments Act in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Furthermore, the BFSC says it has not received any notifications from any EU member states that Islandbay Services LTD has received a license to provide investment services in the EU and accordingly in Bulgaria via the MiFID “passporting” agreement. The BFSC asks to notify the potential investors in the country that the investment services and activities can be provided only by companies licensed by the BFSC. The regulator informed retail investors that they must check whether a respective company is licensed by the BFSC and if it is authorized to provide investment services and activities to the clients.