31 May, AtoZForex, Vilnius — The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is constantly warning the investors about unregulated or unregistered brokers. BCSC's primary goal is to protect and promote the public interest by developing a secure securities market. Today, the Canadian regulator’s list has been updated with a new name, as BSCS warns against Forex broker AvaTrade.
AvaTrade scope of activities
AvaTrade is a retail Forex broker operating online, offering a various spectrum of financial services. Investors are able to trade Forex, bonds, CFD’s on stocks, commodities, and indices with the broker. The firm provides 24-hour customer support and operates in 15 languages. It was founded in 2006 firstly as AvaFx, and later on was renamed in 2010.
The Forex broker’s subsidiaries are registered and allowed to trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in South Africa and Australia via the Financial Services Agency and the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, Japan via the Financial Futures Association in Japan, and the EU by the Central Bank of Ireland. The firm is also fully licensed and registered via the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission.
BSCS warns against Forex broker AvaTrade
Under Canadian’s jurisdiction, any broker needs to be licensed by each of the provincial regulators, in order to trade freely across the whole country. The BSCS issued a warning against AvaTrade after the broker was found discovered to be promoting its services to residents of British Columbia, while not being registered to do so.
The original message from BSCS website states:
“Ava Trade Ltd. claims to be a regulated on-line broker, based in the British Virgin Islands. We became aware of a recent advertisement placed by Ava Trade Ltd. in British Columbia (BC). Ava Trade Ltd. is not registered to trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in BC. We urge BC residents to exercise caution when dealing with firms that are not registered to trade or advise in BC.”
Additionally, the Canadian regulator warns the investors about the further possibility of being solicited by unauthorized Forex brokers and urges British Columbia residents ‘to be cautious when dealing with firms that are not registered to trade or advice in BC’.
AvaTrade's CEO comments on the BCSC warning
According to a public comment of the broker’s CEO, Daire Ferguson stated that: “We are not familiar with this, however, the fact that the AvaTrade Group is regulated to the highest standards by 5 independent regulators: BVI Financial Services Commission, Central Bank of Ireland, Japanese Financial Services Authority, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and South Africa Financial Services Board speaks for itself.”
Recent warnings by the Canadian regulator
The BCSC’s warning list comprises the names of companies and individuals that are operating without any permission by authorities and can be harmful to investors. Recently, BSCS has added another two unregulated brokers to its warning list. The firms were operating under the names Ivory Option and Trades Capital, performing their activities online via ivoryoption.com and tradescapital.com, respectively. These companies were promoting their services in British Columbia, while not being authorized to do so.
Earlier this year, BSCS red flagged Forex broker AlfaTrade. The broker got blacklisted after the Canadian regulator found out that a BC resident was able to open an account with AlfaTrade, while the company did not have any license to trade within the province.
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