Concerned over rising unauthorized brokers in South Africa, the FSB keeps on issuing warnings against market scams and fraudsters. The latest move is South Africa FSB TD Markets warning details. According to a statement with AtoZForex, TD Markets claims as a licensed, regulated and registered firm in many different countries.
9 October, AtoZForex - South African financial regulator has warned against dealing with TD Markets. According to the Financial Services Board (FSB), this binary options and FX broker is not authorized to provide financial services in South Africa.
South Africa FSB TD Markets warning
According to the broker website, TDM Holdings Inc owns TD Markets which is under the FSB registration in St Vincent and the Grenadines. TD Markets operates as an offshore forex and binary options broker. Moreover, the company claims to be registered in Saint Vincent.
The South Africa watchdog said TD Markets solicits investments from the general public in order to trade on its platform. However, the firm at the same time is not authorized to render financial services in the country. Furthermore, the official warning from the FSB states:
"TD Markets and/or George van der Riet are not authorized to render financial services in South Africa and are not representatives of an authorized financial services provider as required by the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act, 37 of 2002."
TD Markets statement
AtoZForex has reached out to the TD Markets in order to get more insights about the case. The representative of the firm has shared some details with us.
"In response to your direct question relating to registration, we are registered in Saint Vincent and also licensed, regulated and registered in many different countries. We are planning to add more countries to the list of places for the regulation.
Our latest registration, licensing and regulation are completed and now regulating in Vanuatu. The next applications will be to the ASIC in Australia, FSB in South Africa and to the FMA in New Zealand. We aim to have all three finalized no later than 2018.”
In a related issue, when asked about their registration in the UK, the company has stated the following:
“TD Markets is not regulating in the UK.”
As a matter of fact, South Africa enjoys a strong and well-organized financial market and therefore has become a popular destination for brokers looking to expand. It is one of the world’s top ten capital markets and boasts thousands of investors.
Other FSB warning against Binary Options
The FSB again reminds consumers who wish to conduct financial services with an institution or person to check beforehand with the FSB. The FSB is an independent institution. It is responsible for South Africa non-banking financial services industry in the public interest. Similarly, Financial Intelligence Centre Act (2001) and subsequent amendments have added responsibilities to the FSB to combat money laundering.
In September, according to a report, the FSB had also warned against investing with Chemmi Holdings, trading as Binary Tilt. This firm has appeared in a number of other regulators' warning lists. The firm claims to be dealing with binary options.
According to the FSB, a citizen had invested in binary options with Binary Tilt but could not get his investment back. Also, the entity’s website claims, it has offices in London, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
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