The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today unmasked another clone entity, Mirabaud Group, which was added to its warning list of unregulated entities, according to an FCA statement.

Mirabaud Group is operating from the site www.mirabaud.com, and lists its address at 33 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7HY. However, FCA said the cloned firm is using the details of an authorised firm operating under the names Mirabaud Asset Management Limited (FRN 122140) and Mirabaud Securities LLP (FRN 489643), part of the Mirabaud Group.

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Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorised by the FCA.

Mirabaud Group is a common type of fraud known as ‘cloned firms’, which usurp the identity of an existing authorized entity in order to give the appearance of trustworthiness or legitimacy and thereby convince investors of their legitimacy.

A visit to the Mirabaud’s website reveals its attempt to mislead investors that it is offering a legal product and is governed by the FCA.

The original company is a well-established entity that has been serving its clients for several years and it has a presence in Geneva, Zurich, Basel, London, Luxembourg, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Milan, Montreal, Dubai and Hong Kong. It offers a comprehensive set of financial services covering three areas of expertise: wealth and asset management, brokerage and corporate finance.

The FCA helps keep investors informed by drawing attention to suspicious operations and unregulated entities that market participants should abstain from doing business with.

The alert list contains entities which have come to the attention of the FCA because they are unlicensed in the UK and are believed to have been targeting domestic investors or claim to have an association with regulated firms.