The  Financial Conduct Authority (FCA  Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the largest financial regulator for all financial markets in the United Kingdom (UK).The UK regulator is responsible for the conduct of firms authorized under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Moreover, the FCA is also responsible for the regulation of behavior in retail and wholesale financial markets, supervision of the trading infrastructure that supports those markets, and the prudential regulation of firms not regulated by the PRA. Its role includes protecting consumers, keeping the industry stable, and promoting healthy competition between financial service providers. The FCA publishes and updates a guide handbook that sets out the rules, guidance, and provisions made by the FCA under its powers. The FCA has supervisory authorities overall financial services firms conducting regulated activities, such as offering loans, car financing deals, any consumer credit. Investment firms carrying on certain activities concerning financial instruments such as shares and bonds, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) requires you to be authorized. Businesses are providing pre-paid cards or other such financial services, money transfers, E-money, and credit cards. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ExplainedThe Financial Conduct Authority is responsible for all financial activities conducted in the UK or by UK citizens. Parliament gave the FCA a single strategic objective – to ensure that relevant markets function well – and three operational goals to advance, i.e. protecting consumers, integrity, and promoting competition.The FCA has been instrumental in policing the forex industry, including curbing market abuse in the form of scams, schemes, clones, etc. Recent years has seen the authority take a harder stance on investment products, including forex, contracts-for-difference (CFDs), and binary options. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the largest financial regulator for all financial markets in the United Kingdom (UK).The UK regulator is responsible for the conduct of firms authorized under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Moreover, the FCA is also responsible for the regulation of behavior in retail and wholesale financial markets, supervision of the trading infrastructure that supports those markets, and the prudential regulation of firms not regulated by the PRA. Its role includes protecting consumers, keeping the industry stable, and promoting healthy competition between financial service providers. The FCA publishes and updates a guide handbook that sets out the rules, guidance, and provisions made by the FCA under its powers. The FCA has supervisory authorities overall financial services firms conducting regulated activities, such as offering loans, car financing deals, any consumer credit. Investment firms carrying on certain activities concerning financial instruments such as shares and bonds, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) requires you to be authorized. Businesses are providing pre-paid cards or other such financial services, money transfers, E-money, and credit cards. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ExplainedThe Financial Conduct Authority is responsible for all financial activities conducted in the UK or by UK citizens. Parliament gave the FCA a single strategic objective – to ensure that relevant markets function well – and three operational goals to advance, i.e. protecting consumers, integrity, and promoting competition.The FCA has been instrumental in policing the forex industry, including curbing market abuse in the form of scams, schemes, clones, etc. Recent years has seen the authority take a harder stance on investment products, including forex, contracts-for-difference (CFDs), and binary options. Read this Term), the UK’s financial industry regulator, has warned investors against dealing with Crypto Vault Traders, which it says is based in the United States.

The FCA in a statement published on its website on Friday stated that the platform may be providing financial services or products in the UK without its authorization.

The regulator explained, “Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorised or registered by us.

“This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK. You will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS); so you are unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong.”

The FCA warned investors and traders to “be aware that some firms may give out other details or change their contact details over time to new email addresses, telephone numbers or physical addresses.”

The watchdog body urged investors to check its financial services register to ensure that financial firms they want to deal with are authorized or registered.

It noted that the register has information on firms and individuals that are or have been regulated by the body, adding that a firm that does not appear in the registry should be reported.

“If you used an authorised firm or registered firm, access to the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS protection will depend on the investment you are making, the service the firm is providing, and the permissions the firm has,” it further said.

FCA's Recent Warnings

Earlier this month, the FCA warned investors against the trading firm, Etradefxlive, which it said has not been authorized by it and could be a  clone  Clone A clone refers to a fraudulent attempt by an entity or individual to use the details of an authorized firm in a bid to convince people that they work that firm.This refers to a relatively new tactic that has seen fraudsters using the name, ‘firm registration number’, and address of firms and individuals authorized by regulators to suggest they are genuine. Clones are seemingly primitive techniques, though newly adopted by scammers that have evolved in the information era. As regulators push for greater transparency, registers, and authorization, fraudsters have resorted to clone attempts to try to dupe investors.Fraudsters are constantly looking for new ways to scam consumers, but one technique that has been increasingly reported to regulators has been clones.This is a particular issue in the United Kingdom, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) taking measures to crack down on clone firms.These scammers typically cold-call investors to promote shares, property or other investment opportunities that are non-tradable, worthless, overpriced, or even non-existent.How Do Clone Scams Work?In most jurisdictions, firms need to be authorized to sell, promote, or advise on the sale of shares and other investments.Some fraudsters simply claim to represent these authorized firms, or even try to change firms’ contact details on registers to look authentic.The scammers will then give their own phone number, address, and website details to possible victims.Most commonly, scammers claim to be from overseas firms that appear on the registers as these firms do not always have their full contact and website details listed.These entities may even copy the website of an authorized firm, making small tweaks or changes such as to the phone number listed. A clone refers to a fraudulent attempt by an entity or individual to use the details of an authorized firm in a bid to convince people that they work that firm.This refers to a relatively new tactic that has seen fraudsters using the name, ‘firm registration number’, and address of firms and individuals authorized by regulators to suggest they are genuine. Clones are seemingly primitive techniques, though newly adopted by scammers that have evolved in the information era. As regulators push for greater transparency, registers, and authorization, fraudsters have resorted to clone attempts to try to dupe investors.Fraudsters are constantly looking for new ways to scam consumers, but one technique that has been increasingly reported to regulators has been clones.This is a particular issue in the United Kingdom, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) taking measures to crack down on clone firms.These scammers typically cold-call investors to promote shares, property or other investment opportunities that are non-tradable, worthless, overpriced, or even non-existent.How Do Clone Scams Work?In most jurisdictions, firms need to be authorized to sell, promote, or advise on the sale of shares and other investments.Some fraudsters simply claim to represent these authorized firms, or even try to change firms’ contact details on registers to look authentic.The scammers will then give their own phone number, address, and website details to possible victims.Most commonly, scammers claim to be from overseas firms that appear on the registers as these firms do not always have their full contact and website details listed.These entities may even copy the website of an authorized firm, making small tweaks or changes such as to the phone number listed. Read this Term firm of the American financial services firm, E*Trade.

Additionally, the body last month warned investors against another clone firm, AZOptions, which it said was impersonating Octopus Investments Limited in order to scam unsuspecting investors in the European country.

In the same month, the watchdog raised the alarm against another firm that was cloning XTB, a broker that belongs to XTB Group and whose branch in the UK, XTB Limited, is regulated by the agency.