The situation surrounding the entities which are related to the New Zealand registered company Forex Trend, including the brokerage Panteon Finance, which have both been operating in Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), has continued escalating. The Russian self-regulatory organization CRFIN has included the organization in its blacklist.

According to the announcement, the high returns and the excessive concentration of successfully managed PAMM accounts, which do not have a confirmed track record, raises questions about the validity of the results. CRFIN questions the performance of the managed fund accounts and alleges that the resulting profitability of these accounts is most likely doctored.

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In the meantime, Alpari has stated publicly that Forex Trend is misusing its trademark “PAMM Account.” This has been an unusual move because the company has not used this power until now, despite holding the rights to the trademark.

Alpari called out Forex Trend outright on it being a pyramid scheme, outlining the serious issues which clients wanting to withdraw funds have experienced. Alpari states that by prohibiting the use of the “PAMM Account” terminology, it is looking after the industry and its own interests.

In the case of Forex Trend, CRFIN has highlighted signs of fraudulent activity due to guaranteed results, client referral bonuses, the lack of obvious warranties about the deposits and the signs of information manipulation.

The move is most likely to confirm a second Ukrainian forex scheme after last year, when MMCIS became the first phantom broker where client funds mysteriously disappeared.