GTL Tradeup, an Australian FX Broker Goes Belly Up Down Under

GTL Tradeup (GTL), a regulated financial services' firm in Australia has decided to call it a day. The move comes on the back of a notice issued by the firm to the Australian financial watchdog about its intention to place the brokerage into liquidation.

The news comes as no surprise to both clients of GTL and industry professionals who are familiar with the firm's past performance. The the owner of GTL, Mr Mian Mehmood, repeated an episode of history, where the firm packed up and left (from its Pakistan office in the early 2000's) as soon as it collected enough Client Money . In this case, past performance should have been an indication of future performance - a leopard never changes its spots.

Contrary to the famous saying by George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," it's believed that the GTL owner 'bagged' a big one with the aid of the ASIC Regulation , used as a front in his latest financial incident.

The Sydney based firm, who also holds regulatory status in Dubai and Karachi sent an email notification to its clients, informing them of the firms brave move to go into liquidation. Unlike its previous case, the firm had the courtesy to let people know that they have been duped.

GTL Trade has not responded to email or calls.

The email, which was sent by the firm's customer services department, requested clients to close out all their positions by 7 a.m. Australian time, on the 26th of September. Failure to do so will result in the positions being automatically terminated by the firm.

The notification states, "We request you close off, and all pending orders not cancelled by the Market on Close (MOC) United States session of today (day email was sent), September 25, 2013, being 7 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time September 26, 2013, then all open positions will be automatically closed at market price, and all pending orders will be cancelled. Trading will be disabled from 7 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time September 26, 2013. The GTL Tradeup website will be shut down within 48 hours."

The latest broker related concern doesn't help the FX industry's perception. GTL Tradeup follows a similar stance to UK spread betting firm WorldSpreads. A listed broker who was shut down by the regulatory after discrepancies in client money.

GTL Tradeup will provide its clients with details of the firm which is dealing with the liquidation.

On the firm's Facebook page, a message from GTL Tradeup uploaded on the 25th of September, states, "Been told GTL Australia is insolvent and we are all out of a job. My heart goes out to our clients who will have to try to get their funds back from DMCC Dubai."