The United Kingdom’s financial watchdog has acted against Cypriot-based ICC Intercertus Capital Ltd, known by its trade name EverFX, and banned the company from offering contracts for differences (CFDs) instruments in the country.
Per Wednesday’s announcement, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) alleged that the broker onboarded many British traders on the overseas entities, which are not authorized to offer services in the UK.
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“Many consumers were subsequently induced to transact with overseas members of the EverFX Group, which had no authorization to provide regulated services in the UK meaning that consumers lacked the same level of protection,” FCA noted.
ICC Intercertus Capital, which is licensed in Cyprus, was legally operating in the United Kingdom by passporting its license and was registered under the FCA’s Temporary Permission Regime (TPR) following Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Many Violations
The British regulator further raised concerns over the broker’s sales and marketing practices. EverFX allegedly used misleading financial promotions and did not inform investors about the risks of CFDs products. The broker also pressured clients for investments, instructed clients for trades, and failed to allow fund withdrawals.
“This has led to some consumers losing very significant sums of money,” the regulatory notice added.
The FCA has now ordered the Cypriot broker to cease offering CFDs trading services and marketing in the country and close all open positions, returning clients’ funds.
Last month, the UK regulator passed a similar order against another Cypriot broker, Finteractive Limited, operating as FXVC, for multiple regulatory violations. Though Cyprus is home to many financial services companies, the island’s regulator recently found many compliance violations by regulated firms. Regulators of Germany and Spain also issued statements on repeated non-compliance by multiple Cypriot firms.
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