Regulators on High Alert: FCA, SFC, and FSC Issue New Warnings

<p>Although
the holiday and New Year's break is just around the corner, financial market
regulators remain exceptionally active. This can be seen in the number of
warnings published by popular watchdogs.</p><p>During
today's (Wednesday) session, the warning list was updated by the
UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Hong Kong Securities and Financial
Commission (SFC) and the Mauritius Financial Services Commission (FSC), among others.</p><p>Long List of Warnings from
FCA</p><p>On 20
December, as many as five entities were added to the FCA warning list,
including Ventures-Funds, Cryptolinkx, Universal Forex Trading, Premium Easy
Loan, and Safe <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/f/forex-trading/">Forex Trading</a>. None of them have the appropriate licenses to
provide investment services in the UK.</p><p>However,
analyzing the FCA register, we see that the regulator made a major
update to its list two days earlier, on 18-19 December, adding about 50 new
entities. These are mostly companies that offer either cryptocurrency services
or FX/CFD trading.</p><p>FCA remains
extremely active in issuing warnings, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/fca-issues-1716-warnings-about-unregistered-firms-from-april-2022-to-march-2023/" target="_blank" rel="follow">publishing over 1,700 last year</a>.</p><p>Mauritius FSC Warns
against FX Future</p><p>The warning
list of the Mauritius FSC includes the FX Future entity, which falsely claims
to be authorized, impersonating the license of another entity, Benor Capital
Ltd.</p><p>"The
FSC wishes to inform the public that Benor Capital Ltd has no association in
any manner with FX Future and further highlights that FX Future and/or any
other individuals or representatives or promoter groups operating under such
name are not and have not, at any point in time, been licensed and/or regulated
by the FSC," the regulator commented in an official statement.</p><p>At the same
time, it recommends particular caution when dealing with FX Future.</p><p>Some time
ago, the regulator <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/news-nuggets-25-april-bdswiss-and-xscom-executives-mauritius-fsc-warning/" target="_blank" rel="follow">warned against Match CFD</a>, which falsely claimed to have
a full broker-dealer license.</p><p>Two New Entities on SFC's
Warning List</p><p>Meanwhile,
Hong Kong's SFC added LonShiX and Bitbank (Global) Financial Holding Group to
its warning list. The first encourages people to open investment accounts
through social platforms and instant messaging. The second uses a name
deceptively similar to the popular <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/cryptocurrency-exchange/">cryptocurrency exchange</a>, although it is not
related to it in any way.</p><p>"The
SFC also suspects that Bitbank (Global) Financial Holding Group may have
disseminated false and misleading information about itself and its business
through online channels, including its website and social media platforms,
claiming that it has obtained SFC licences and begun to apply for a virtual
asset service provider's licence," the SFC informed and at the same time
warned that it has not issued a license to this entity.</p><p>Yesterday (Tuesday),
the Cypriot CySEC <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/investor-alert-cysec-flags-12-unlicensed-investment-websites/" target="_blank" rel="follow">updated its warning list</a>, adding 12 unlicensed
investment websites.</p>

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.