Regulator warnings and records

Suspicious websites: www.ultimamarkets.com, Ultima Markets (Mauritius) Ltd and its mobile apps — clients' funds were deposited into bank accounts with no apparent connection to the company; not licensed by the SFC.

MFSA regulatory action against Trive Financial Services Europe Limited: from 2026-09-01 it had to stop onboarding new clients over deficiencies in safeguarding of client assets and reconciliation; on 2026-09-24 MFSA ordered it to cease all incoming and outgoing transactions on client accounts until client money is moved to compliant counterparties. On 2026-10-07 MFSA appointed Grant Thornton as Competent Person for one year. The decisions may be appealed to the Financial Services Tribunal.

MFSA accepted the voluntary surrender of the Class 2 Investment Services Licence of Triton Capital Markets Ltd (the former FXDD Malta entity); the company ceased to be MFSA-licensed on 2026-08-25. MFSA states the surrender was not the result of regulatory action. FXDD's current site is operated by FXDD Trading SAC (Peru).

User complaints on FastBull BrokersView (e.g. 2026-08-14) allege that CPT Markets withheld deposits/profits citing hedging or trading abuse; the pages show no substantive response from the broker.

The EU listed JSC "BCS Bank" (entry 872, described as a core subsidiary of BCS Financial Group) in Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/1845 of 23 July 2026 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP. The listing concerns the bank, not the broker entities.

The EU listed JSC FINAM Bank (entry 887, described as part of the FINAM Holding) in Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/1845 of 23 July 2026 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP. The listing concerns the bank, not the broker JSC Investment Company FINAM or Finam Forex LLC. No FINAM entity was found on the OFAC SDN list or the UK Sanctions List (checked 2026-10-25).

VT Markets / VT Markets (Pty) Ltd / VT Markets Limited / VT Markets Ltd added to SFC alert list as unlicensed entities; websites incl. www.vtmarkets.com, vtmarketsglobal.com, vtmarkets.net.

User complaints about delayed or unpaid withdrawals in 2025–26: WikiFX (article of 2026-07-23) counts 169 complaints in the preceding three months, citing cases from June–September 2025 (e.g. a USD 4,677 withdrawal requested 2025-07-21 still unpaid on 2025-09-09) and March–April 2026 (blocked logins, withdrawals pending for almost a year). These are user complaints; HTFX has not commented publicly.

According to FinanceMagnates, HTFX Limited applied on 2026-01-07 to cancel its FCA authorisation; FX News Group reported the UK licence was lost as of 2026-04-10. The FCA register entry could not be viewed directly for this check.

Brazil's CVM Collegiate unanimously rejected a new settlement (termo de compromisso) proposal from IQ Option LLC in the sanctioning proceeding over alleged unauthorised public offering of securities-intermediation services to Brazilian residents; CVM noted the conduct allegedly continued after its 2020 stop order (Declaratory Act 17,790 of 2020-04-20) and that the case should go to judgment. An earlier proposal was rejected on 2022-11-08.

Investor alert 'VT Markets Limited, Amius Group Ltd, Naviark' relaying Consob March 2026 warnings.

The UK FCA prohibited Kasim Garipoglu from working in UK financial services for lack of honesty and integrity (conduct in 2012–2022 as owner and CEO of an online FX/CFD firm). Finance Magnates (2026-10-15) reports he is Trive's controlling shareholder and that MFSA separately barred him for 10 years and ordered him to divest his qualifying holdings in Trive.

CONSOB warning on VT Markets Limited, www.vtmarkets-it.com: unlicensed entity.

CySEC withdrew the CIF authorisation 332/17 of HTFX (EU) Ltd (decision of 2026-01-12, announced 2026-01-22) because the company expressly renounced it; the firm is now listed among CySEC's former investment firms.

SC Malaysia investor alert: Headway (hw.online) - unlicensed capital market activities of dealing in securities

CONSOB warning on VT Markets Limited, www.vtmarkets-it.net: unlicensed entity.

IOSCO I-SCAN entry 41672: the Financial Services Authority of Oman lists "iFOREX Arab" (iforexarab.com, the Arabic-language iFOREX site linked from iforex.mx) as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial products or services (published at the NCA on 2025-10-09).

Blackout order (resolution 23688 of 1 Oct 2025) against VT Markets Limited site www.vtmarketsit.com (+ myaccount.vtmarketsit.com, social.vt-academy.net) for illegal financial services in Italy.

The Securities Commission Malaysia placed Blueberry Markets (blueberrymarkets.com) on its Investor Alert List for carrying on unlicensed capital market activities of dealing in securities; the broker's site lists Malaysia among countries from which it does not accept applications.

Blueberry Markets (blueberrymarkets.com and its Facebook/X accounts) added to the Investor Alert List: carrying on unlicensed capital market activities of dealing in securities.

CySEC announced a EUR 150,000 settlement with L.F. Investment Ltd (operator of Purple Trading; board decision of 2025-05-26) over possible violations from July 2021 to 2023-10-01 concerning organisational requirements, conflicts of interest, client information, appointment of tied agents and the CySEC CFD product-intervention rules (DI87-09); the amount was paid.

A user complaint on FastBull BrokersView (2025-06-09) alleges a rejected $10,000 withdrawal and account block after profits, citing a rules violation; no broker reply is shown.

CONSOB warning on VT Markets Limited, URL www.vtmarkets.com (+ vtmarkets.net, myaccount.vtmarkets.net): unregistered/unlicensed entity.

CySEC withdrew the CIF authorisation 199/13 of Viverno Markets Ltd (formerly BDSwiss Holding Ltd, the group's B2B entity) by board decision of 2025-03-17, announced 2025-05-09, because the company had not provided investment services for the six months preceding the suspension of its licence on 2024-10-24 (specifically since 2024-01-01).

Regulators that listed BDSwiss entities as unauthorised in their jurisdictions: BCSC British Columbia (2021), SC Malaysia (2024-05-02), NSSMC Ukraine (2024-07-01), OSC Ontario (2025-04-14, BDS at km.bdswiss.com).

BDS, found at www.km.bdswiss.com, is not registered in Ontario to engage in the business of trading in securities.

AMF Quebec: Tradeview Ltd (tradeviewforex.com, tvmarkets.com) not registered and not authorised to solicit investors in Quebec

Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd (d/b/a OKX), a Seychelles-based entity, pled guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to pay penalties of more than $504 million; it retains an external compliance consultant through February 2027.

India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) imposed a penalty of INR 9.27 crore on Bybit for operating in India without FIU registration under the PMLA and blocked its websites (order of 2025-01-31, reported by Inc42).

Trinota Markets (Global) Limited ("M4Markets") listed for soliciting OTC derivatives to Japanese residents without registration.

Press release: PEKEN GLOBAL LIMITED, the Seychelles-based entity that has operated KuCoin since at least September 2019, pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to forfeit $184.5 million and pay a criminal fine of about $112.9 million; prosecutio

Securities Commission Malaysia publicly reprimanded Bybit Technology Ltd and CEO Ben Zhou for operating an unregistered digital asset exchange in Malaysia and directed Bybit to disable its platforms for Malaysian users; SC says Bybit complied.

Public reprimand of Bybit Technology Ltd (formerly Bybit Fintech Ltd) and CEO Ben Zhou for operating an unregistered digital asset exchange in Malaysia; directed to disable website/apps in Malaysia; on SC Investor Alert List since July 2021.

Malaysia's Securities Commission added HTFX to its Investor Alert List for carrying on unlicensed capital market activities of dealing in securities (IOSCO I-SCAN 35783).

HTFX on the SC Investor Alert List: carrying on unlicensed capital market activities of dealing in securities (IOSCO I-SCAN 35783).

CySEC announced a €50,000 settlement with Charlgate Ltd (operator of Fxview in the EU) over possible violations concerning authorisation requirements (2020 – 30.06.2023), protection of client funds (September 2023) and best execution (July 2023); the company paid the amount (board decision of 2024-12-02).

Listed in the IOSCO I-SCAN warnings database (ID 35510) by the Ukrainian NSSMC as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial products or services; the entry says the entity is likely to be offering services to Ukrainian consumers and holds no Ukrainian licence. (Page text read via WebFetch

OFAC (US Treasury) designated BCS Bank AO, a bank of the BCS group, on the SDN list under E.O. 14024 (program RUSSIA-EO14024). The listing concerns the bank, not the broker BCS Company LLC or BCS-Forex LLC.

List of entities with signs of illegal activity: signs of an illegal professional securities market participant (valetax.com, valetaxintl.com, valetaxglobal.com and others); data updated 11.09.2026.

CySEC suspended in whole the CIF authorisation of Viverno Markets Ltd (199/13) on 2024-10-24 on suspicion of a violation of section 22(1) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law.

SC Malaysia added 'FXGT' to its Investor Alert List of unauthorised websites/entities as at 16 August 2024.

Grand Capital Limited (grandcapital.net) is not and has never been authorised under the Securities Act 2007 (first issued 01.07.2024).

BDSwiss listed as likely offering financial services to Ukrainian consumers without an NSSMC licence (IOSCO I-SCAN 31870).

SC Malaysia added 'FXCM' to its Investor Alert List of unauthorised websites/entities as at 1 July 2024 (name-only entry).

France's AMF reminded the public (notice of 2024-05-16) that Bybit was not registered as a digital asset service provider in France and had been on its blacklist since May 2022; Bybit said it had exited the French market in October 2023 (Cointelegraph).

IQ Option Ltd on the SC Investor Alert List: carrying out capital market activities of dealing in securities without SC authorisation (IOSCO I-SCAN 30619).

SC Malaysia: Just2Trade - unlicensed dealing in securities and derivatives

Regulators that listed Olymp Trade as unauthorised in their jurisdictions: Brazil's CVM (declaratory act on Smartex International Ltd (Olymp Trade), 2019-04-11), Ukraine's NSSMC (2024-03-06) and Malaysia's SC Investor Alert List (2024-05-07).

Olymp Trade / Olymp Trade Malaysia on the SC Investor Alert List: conducting unlicensed capital market activities (IOSCO I-SCAN 30567).

BDSwiss on the SC Investor Alert List: carrying on unlicensed capital market activities of dealing in securities (IOSCO I-SCAN 30473).

Japan's Kanto Local Finance Bureau issued a warning to LIRUNEX LIMITED (address given as Majuro, Marshall Islands; service name 'LIRUNEX') for soliciting OTC derivatives trading via the internet without registration under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. lirunex.com currently lists Japan among restricted countries.

Warning to LIRUNEX LIMITED (address given as Majuro, Marshall Islands; service name 'LIRUNEX') for soliciting OTC derivative trading to Japanese residents via the internet without registration.

NSSMC: ERRANTE likely offering services to Ukrainian consumers without NSSMC licence

Ukraine's NSSMC listed IUX Markets as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial services to Ukrainian consumers (IOSCO I-SCAN alert, 2024-03-22). IUX now lists Ukraine among restricted jurisdictions.

Listed as an unlicensed entity (IUX Markets) likely serving Ukrainian consumers without an NSSMC licence; republished on IOSCO I-SCAN (id 29893).

IOSCO I-SCAN entry 29896 (published by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine): SimpleFX listed as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial products or services; likely offering services to Ukrainian consumers without a Ukrainian licence from the NSSMC and not aut

NSSMC: AXIORY — unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial products or services in Ukraine

IOSCO I-SCAN entry 29798 (published by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine): CapitalXtend listed as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial products or services; the entity is likely to be offering services to Ukrainian consumers, does not hold a Ukrainian lic

NSSMC: FXopen likely offering services to Ukrainian consumers without NSSMC licence

ForexChief listed as unregistered/unlicensed entity likely offering financial services to Ukrainian consumers without an NSSMC licence.

Ukraine's NSSMC listed NPBFX as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial services (IOSCO I-SCAN warning 29484).

Listed by Ukraine's NSSMC as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial services (published via IOSCO I-SCAN, warning ID 29484).

Listed by Ukraine's NSSMC as an unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial services to Ukrainian consumers (IOSCO I-SCAN warning 29506).

NSSMC: NordFX likely offering services to Ukrainian consumers without NSSMC licence

IQOPTION LTD listed as likely offering financial services to Ukrainian consumers without an NSSMC licence (IOSCO I-SCAN 29342).

NSSMC: Just2Trade - unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial services

Olymp Trade listed as likely offering financial services to Ukrainian consumers without an NSSMC licence (IOSCO I-SCAN 29343).

A CIRO hearing panel accepted a settlement with Fortrade Canada Limited, which admitted making recommendations to order-execution-only clients and failing to maintain an adequate supervisory system and records. Sanctions: CAD 2,000,000 fine, CAD 100,000 costs, US$703,478.91 to complaining clients and a US$6,000,000 compensation fund for eligible clients (CIRO release of 2024-03-11).

Poland's KNF lists Teletrade Polska sp. z o.o. (operating via teletrade.eu, teletrade.org, teletrade-dj.com and esperio.org) among notifications of suspected unauthorised activity in financial instruments (Art. 178 of the Act on trading in financial instruments); the proceedings were initiated by another party and joined by the KNF Chairman. Ukraine's NSSMC (2024-03-12) and Brazil's CVM (2014-01-10) also listed TeleTrade as unauthorised in their jurisdictions.

KNF public warning list: notification of suspected offence under Art. 178 of the Act on trading in financial instruments concerning Teletrade Polska sp. z o.o. operating via teletrade.eu, teletrade.org, teletrade-dj.com and esperio.org (KNF Chairman joined proceedings).

Binance Holdings Limited pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $4 billion to resolve the DOJ investigation into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money transmitting business and IEEPA; founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective AML programme

FCA Warning List entry "Coinexx" (first published 20/11/2023): the FCA states the firm is not authorised by it and may be targeting people in the UK, and may be providing or promoting financial services or products without permission; listed e-mail [email protected].

CySEC fined BDSwiss Holding Ltd EUR 100,000 (decision of 2023-06-26) under art. 42 of MiFIR for 2021, for enabling associated offshore companies to refer to its CySEC CIF status to attract clients offered CFDs without initial margin protection and risk warnings. Earlier: CySEC settlement of EUR 150,000 with Bdswiss Holding Plc (announced 2017-01-23).

Alert List entry (category: unlicensed company; first posted 2018-07-17, last updated 2023-07-27) for 'Big Boss Holdings Company Limited / Big Boss Financial Limited', website www.bigboss-financial.com; the SFC notes the listed Hong Kong address is not where the company is located.

CySEC announced a EUR 100,000 settlement with BrokerCreditService (Cyprus) Limited (board decision of 2023-04-24) over possible violations of the Market Abuse Regulation (art. 16(2)) and organisational requirements of the Investment Services Law for 2019–2021; the amount was paid.

Warning issued to 'Big Boss Holdings Company Limited' (address in Seychelles) for soliciting OTC derivatives transactions over the internet without registration under Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The page notes the service name is 'BigBoss', the same as that of 'Big Boss Financial

Ukraine imposed NSDC sanctions on Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov and on Freedom Finance Ukraine LLC (presidential decree of 2022-10-19, five years: asset blocking, trading restrictions, etc.); on 2022-11-09 Ukraine's NSSMC suspended Freedom Finance Ukraine's securities licences (Forbes Kazakhstan, 2022-12-06). Freedom Holding called the listing erroneous, said the Ukrainian company had no Russian owners or beneficiaries and appealed (statement of 2022-10-21).

CFTC RED List entry "HankoTrade" (web address hankotrade.com, origin Seychelles, offerings forex/CFD): the CFTC states the entity operates outside the United States, is soliciting and/or accepting funds from U.S. customers, appears to require registration and is not registered with the CFTC; inclusi

Bybit Fintech agreed a settlement with the Ontario Securities Commission including a C$2.5 million payment and a bar on opening new Ontario accounts or offering new products until registered (Bloomberg Law, 2022-06-22).

Malta's FIAU imposed a €244,679 administrative penalty on XNT Ltd (formerly known as Exante) for anti-money-laundering shortcomings, including insufficient enhanced due diligence and source-of-funds checks (MaltaToday, 2023-04-06). XNT contested the fine; on 2023-07-13 Malta's Constitutional Court (First Hall) ruled that the law governing FIAU administrative fines breached the right to a fair hearing (MaltaToday, 2023-07-14).

CySEC fined BrokerCreditService (Cyprus) Limited EUR 10,000 (board decision of 2022-03-28) for non-compliance with art. 16(2) of the Market Abuse Regulation (ineffective arrangements for detecting suspicious transactions).

Finanstilsynet investor-alert page "SimpleFX Ltd", last published 21 February 2022, issuer Italy, attached document "New warnings from CONSOB.pdf" (warning by the Italian regulator CONSOB).

CFTC order settling charges against iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc. and BFXWW Inc. (d/b/a Bitfinex) for illegal off-exchange retail commodity transactions in digital assets with U.S. persons and violation of a prior CFTC order; $1.5 million civil monetary penalty.

FCA Warning List entry 'PocketOption' (first published 29/09/2021, last updated 10/02/2026): the firm is not authorised by the FCA and may be targeting people in the UK; listed websites include pocketoption.com and potrade.com; address given as Castries, Saint Lucia.

BDS Ltd., BDS Markets, BDSwiss GmbH, BDSwiss Holdings Ltd. and BDSwiss LLC on the BCSC Investment Caution List (IOSCO I-SCAN 17870).

CySEC announced a EUR 120,000 settlement with Teletrade-DJ International Consulting Ltd (board decision of 2021-04-12) over possible violations of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law.

CySEC announced a €120,000 settlement with Key Way Investments Ltd (then operator of CAPEX.com in the EU) over possible non-compliance with authorisation and organisational requirements, conflicts of interest, client information and certified-persons rules, following an onsite inspection begun in June 2019 (Finance Magnates, 2020-10-22).

CVM alert (Ato Declaratório 17.942): Dolphin Corp, responsible for the Binomo platform, is not authorised to solicit clients resident in Brazil; CVM ordered immediate suspension of any public offering of Forex investment opportunities.

CVM issued Declaratory Act 17,790 (stop order) stating IQ Option is not authorised to offer investment opportunities or securities-market activities in Brazil and ordering the immediate cessation of the offer.

CVM Declaratory Act 17,790 (stop order): IQ Option not authorised to publicly offer investment opportunities or securities-market services in Brazil.

CNMV: es.weltrade.com (Systemgates LTD / Weltrade) - unregistered/unlicensed entity

Listed in the IOSCO I-SCAN warnings database (ID 9236) by the Spanish CNMV as 'ICE-FX MARKETS LIMITED' (ice-fx.com), category: unregistered/unlicensed entity offering financial products or services. The entry is dated 2019; the broker later rebranded to ICE Markets.

CySEC announced a EUR 450,000 settlement with IQ Option Europe Ltd (board decision of 2019-04-15) over possible violations of the investment services law (conflicts of interest, appropriateness assessment, selection of execution venues) and of the anti-money-laundering law; the amount was paid. Earlier CySEC decisions: fine of EUR 180,000 (announced 2016-09-30). On 2023-08-01 CySEC deleted IQOPTION EUROPE LTD from the register of crypto-asset service providers for not providing such services for six months.

CVM declaratory act: SMARTEX INTERNATIONAL LTD (OLYMP TRADE) not authorised to publicly offer investment opportunities in Brazil, including via www.olymptrade.com (IOSCO I-SCAN 8129).

The Bank of Russia annulled the forex dealer licence of Teletrade Group LLC (ООО «Телетрейд Групп») on 2018-12-27, citing repeated violations within one year (own-funds calculation, inaccurate reporting, inaccurate website disclosures, late reporting, failure to comply with an order); the licence ceased on 2019-01-27.

IQ Option Europe Ltd; IQ Option Ltd on the MAS Investor Alert List (IOSCO I-SCAN 50331).

CVM: FXOpen Markets Limited (fxopen.com.br) not authorised to offer investments to Brazilian residents

FSC Mauritius revoked the Investment Dealer and Category 1 Global Business licences of FX Primus Limited (suspended since 2015-05-28) after its Enforcement Committee found breaches of the Financial Services Act 2007, the AML/CFT Code and licence conditions; the company applied to the Financial Services Review Panel for review.

Iqoption Europe Ltd., operating as IQ Option, on the BCSC Investment Caution List (IOSCO I-SCAN 4764).

ASIC reported that Ingot Brokers (Australia) Pty Ltd (AFSL 428015) had breached its licence's financial requirements by counting client collateral towards its cash and cash-equivalents requirement; the firm cooperated and rectified the breach.

CySEC fined Safecap Investments Ltd (Markets.com) €168,000 for breaches of CIF authorisation/operating-conditions and professional-competence directives found in onsite inspections in May 2013 and October 2014; the company said the findings were historic and remedied (Finance Magnates, 2015-07-02).

FSC Mauritius suspended with immediate effect the licences of FX Primus Limited, citing non-compliance with the Financial Services Act 2007, the AML/CFT Code and licence conditions.

CVM declaratory act: TELETRADE not authorised to offer Forex investment opportunities to Brazilian residents (IOSCO I-SCAN warning 3373).