The United Kingdom’s financial
markets regulator has issued a warning against two forex/CFDs platforms, Saxo
24 FX and One Zero Trade. The watchdog said both
platforms are targeting UK investors without being authorized to operate in the
country.
FCA Flags Two Illegal Trading Platforms
The Financial Conduct Authority
(FCA) sounded the warning on Friday in separate updates posted to its website,
urging investors to “avoid dealing with this firm and beware of potential
scams.” According to the regulator, the platforms operate the websites, www.saxo-24fx.com,
and www.onezerotrade.com, respectively.
Saxo 24 FX, which claims to have
been under UK regulation since 2005, provides its clients with CFDs, stocks, commodities, forex, cryptocurrencies and futures trading opportunities, according
to details on its website. The platform is branded similarly to Saxo Bank, a
Danish investment bank that specializes in online trading and investment.
However, the FCA did not state if the Salford-based platform is a clone of the
popular Danish firm.
On the other hand, One Zero
Trade provides its clients with access to CFDs on forex, digital assets
and commodities, according to its website. However, the brokerage shares a
similar brand name with a popular firm, OneZero Financial Systems, which is a multi-asset enterprise
trading technology developer. However, just as in the previous case, the FCA
did not mention if One Zero Trade is a clone of the trading technology provider.
FCA Seeks Greater Investor
Protection
In 2022, the FCA launched a three-year strategic plan to “improve outcomes for consumers in markets
throughout the UK.” A crucial aspect of the FCA’s strategy involves closing
down businesses that fail to comply with fundamental regulations.
Earlier this month, the
regulator, which entered the second year of the three-year strategy, published its business plan for
2023-2024, setting a roadmap for the next
12 months. In a statement, the UK regulator
noted that it plans to commit more resources and additional investments to four
primary areas of its work. These areas include concentrating on consumers’
needs, preparing financial services for the future, strengthening the position
of the UK in the global wholesale markets and reducing and preventing financial
crimes.
The FCA’s new regulatory roadmap was
published a month after the regulator cracked down on unregistered crypto ATMs operating in East London. The regulator warned the
public against using the unregulated machines, noting that they may facilitate
money laundering and other criminal activities.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the British
regulator flagged down 1,800 potential financial cases of fraud, increased the clamp down on more rogue financial ads by 1,400% and hired 1,000 new officers to better protect consumers from financial harm.
This article was written by Solomon Oladipupo at www.financemagnates.com.
