Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today unmasked yet another fraudulent entity, this time bringing to light the clone firm William Paulstern which was added its warning list of unregulated entities, according to a SFC statement.

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William Paulstern is operating from the site https://williampaulstern.com, and lists its address as 3 1008 Tai Nan West Street, Cheung Sha Wan / Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. However, the SFC said that the cloned firm is not located in Hong Kong although it is using the details of an authorised firm including a bank account in the name of Camdan Limited for its transactions settlement.

A brief review of the William Paulstern’s website reveals that it offers investment strategies on a wide range of financial instruments, ranging from equities, mutual funds, to fixed income and multi-asset solutions. ‎

William Paulstern 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 its legitimacy.

SFC mission

Hong Kong’s financial regulator 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 SFC because they are unlicensed in Hong Kong and are believed to be, or to have been, targeting Hong Kong investors or claim to have an association with Hong Kong.

Back in November, Finance Magnates reported on the SFC when the regulator banned a former trader at Deutsche Bank AG’s South Korean brokerage unit from re-entering the industry for 10 years after he was convicted of manipulating share prices in November 2010.