FCA Expands Its Warning List With Nine New Crypto and Financial Companies

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, has recently added nine new companies to its warning list on Monday. These companies stretched across the crypto and financial services sector.

Suspect And Copycat Activities

The companies added to the list are STS Royals, Olympus Global, Walker Bryan, Bitcoin Evolution, My Safe Market, Credit Union Fund, Standard Bit Options, and Carter FS.

Furthermore, the FCA had issued a warning over a clone of Ignis Markets, a fully regulated platform, that has been duping clients through imitating a trustworthy counterpart. In regard to this, the UK regulator explained that it is convinced that this firm does not hold the proper authorization from the FCA. Even so, this firm has been providing its financial services and/or products to the public at large.

Hiding Behind A Regulated Entity

They described this copycat as a “clone firm,” and explained that it’s a common tactic when it comes to scammers. The typical modus operandi (MO) for this sort of scam is the prolific use of cold calling. By imitating a legitimate firm, they aim to instill a false sense of confidence within their victim. They go as for as to use the name of a genuine firm, as well as citing its FRN, or firm reference number. These FRNs are given to fully regulated firms under the FCA, and using it instills a false sense of security to its prospective victims.

The report goes further, stating that crypto companies listed on the blacklist were hit with accusations of unrealistic investment services. One platform, in particular, went as far as to offer up to 200x leverage on the volatile crypto markets.

Cracking Down On Unregulated Crypto

It’s been less than a month that the FCA has issued warnings against some of the top cryptocurrency exchanges out there, BitMEX and Kraken. This is due to them offering their services within the UK without the proper authorization for it from the relevant regulators.

The world of financial regulation is a messy one indeed, and with the amount of money that changes hands daily, it’s easy to see why scams pop up everywhere in the financial industry. Only through regulation can you try and stem the tide of scams and frauds that try to steal from the naive. Even so, some responsibility rests on the consumer themselves, in order to try and make sure to stay wary of financial institutes that don’t seem as trustworthy. There will always be a financial crime; the trick is just not to get involved in it.

Read more: 

• FCA Publishes Warning Against Illegal Crypto Broker Cryptenix
• Redcentric Receives Public Censure From FCA Due To Market Abuse