The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) updated its warning list this week to include six online platforms that offer unauthorised trading products.

In the warning, the Cypriot regulator provides the company’s name, website address and states that the entity has not added to its regulatory register.

Among the companies added to the list is AllFxTradings, which falsely claims authorisation by the CFTC, the IFSC of Belize, and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. This company is involved in the trading of binary options and CFDs tracking cryptocurrencies, commodities and forex.

Another domain added to Cysec’s warning list is https://bhc.international/, which has been falsely claiming affiliation with the ‎authorised brands of Key Way Investments Ltd, the multi-regulated brokerage operating under the brand names of CAPEX.

As per usual, this seems like yet another instance of a scam operation where an unlicensed company illegally assumes the identity of an authorized company so that traders will mistake it for the legitimate entity.

The Newly Blacklisted Domains Also Include:

 otpfx.com

 AllFXtradings.com

 en-n.com

 bhc.international

 bbgroupfx.com

 acronisfx.com

Under current laws, CySEC has no powers to force internet companies to refuse financial advertisements or block access to their domains. It can only ask them to take down fraudulent promotions once they have been spotted. As a result, fraudsters and promoters of high-risk schemes have been able to place advertisements claiming to be based or licensed in Cyprus.

CySEC stresses that these firms are not licensed to operate a brokerage business in Cyprus, nor are they affiliated with a regulated entity. Additionally, it warns that if consumers lost their money on platforms that are not licensed, they are not protected under the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF). This serves to protect the claims of covered clients and provide them with compensation, in case a member was unable to meet its financial obligations.

While many providers claim to be Cyprus-based, CySEC said, previously it believed such companies were based overseas and providing false addresses, adding that it would look into taking further action if companies were actually based within the country. It further explains that it is sometimes hard to find the names of the platforms’ operators on their websites and that the addresses given as the company headquarters are often offshore letterbox addresses.