Spanish Regulator Flags ‘Pepper Stone’, ‘PRIMUS FX’, 7 Other Websites

The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Spain’s financial regulator, has issued a warning against six unregistered entities including ‘Pepper Stone Ltd’, and 'PRIMUS FX'. The platforms operate nine websites without authorization, CNMV said in a statement released on Monday.

According to the Spanish financial watchdog, the unauthorized websites include pepperstoneld.com operated by ‘Pepper Stone Ltd’, primusfx.net operated by PRIMUS FX and exteom.com/en/ run by WIRRERIUM LLC. The other websites include forzatrade.io, forzatrade.net, forzatrade.org and forzatrade.world, which are all operated by FORZATRADE; and itradersfx.com operated by ITRADES FX LTD. There is also lionmarket.live, the regulator said.

“The CNMV makes it clear that these companies are not registered in the corresponding registry of this Commission and, therefore, are not authorized to provide investment services or other activities subject to the supervision of the CNMV,” the Spanish watchdog explained.

Clones of Pepperstone and FXPRIMUS

'Pepper Stone Ltd’ and 'PRIMUS FX' are clones of Pepperstone and FXPRIMUS, which are two well-recognized multi-regulated brokerages. While Pepperstone is regulated in jurisdictions such as Australia, Bahamas, UK, Germany, Kenya and Dubai, FXPRIMUS operates under the supervision of the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

On its website, the clone 'PRIMUS FX' says it has been in operation for more than 10 years and is “one of Europe’s leading financial institutions specializing in forex and CFDs trading.” However, the platform, which claims it offers forex, CFDs, stocks and commodities trading opportunities to its clients, does not mention the jurisdictions where it is regulated.

Speaking to Finance Magnates, regulated brokerage FXPRIMUS disclosed a February 2023 cease-and-desist letter it sent to 'PRIMUS FX,' warning the platform against continued impersonation of its brand. FXPRIMUS also warned 'PRIMUS FX' against unauthorized use of its "trademark, tradename, and copyrighted elements."

Furthermore, FXPRIMUS shared a "fraudulent website notification" it wrote to CySEC, informing the Cypriot securities watchdog that 'PRIMUS FX' and its domain, primusfx.net, do not belong to Primus Global Limited, the Cyprus Investment Firm that operates the FXPRIMUS brokerage brand. The recognized broker also noted that it has reported the clone platform to its domain service provider.

Meanwhile, the second clone website, 'Pepper Stone,' also does not mention where it is regulated and claims to have been in the market for over five years with over 10,000 clients under its belt. However, the well-recognized Pepperstone, in addition to being multi-regulated, offers its clients trading opportunities in over 1,200 CFDs. On top of that, it offers its clients access to MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader trading platforms. However, Finance Magnates is yet to get a comment from Pepperstone on the development.

Meanwhile, the Spanish financial regulator last month warned against a number of unregulated entities offering financial services to retail investors in Spain. Some of them include Morgan Finance, OneCapital Invest, Invinco, Theta Investments, Shadlake, Trade Coin, Trade Nation and Millenium Operations.

CySEC Continues Clampdown on Illegal Trading Platforms

Meanwhile, on Monday, CySEC announced a new warning against eight illegal FX/CFDs websites operating in the country without authorization. The latest warning is an addition to the six and five online trading websites flagged by the Cypriot regulator in March and January 2023, respectively.

The newly flagged websites are world-trade-center.io, financista.com, swiftpuprime.com, ocdfinances.net and ocdfinances.org. The others are: inverbid.net, inverbid.com and inverbid.co.

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