Turkey’s CMB blocks access to unauthorized forex broker MXTrade’s website

The Turkish financial regulatory body, the Capital Markets Board (CMB), has blocked the access of Turkish citizens to the website of forex broker MXTrade, since the broker has no authorization to operate in the country, online finance media Finance Magnates reported.

The CMB has found MXTrade was improperly targeting Turkish citizens without holding the appropriate license to provide financial services in the country.

MXTrade is the trading brand of  Lau Global Services Corporation. It is an online broker of forex, metals and contracts for difference (CDs) instruments. The brokers claims on its website it is registered in Belize and licensed by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize. It has a warning on its website that the company regulation is not applicable to European citizens. The broker serves retail and institutional clients from over 140 countries worldwide.

Belize is known as an offshore destination for forex traders, where the regulation is not as strict as in other places and the requirements for acquiring a license are more liberal than in the UK, Australia or Cyprus. Many forex brokers choose to register and be regulated in Belize since the provision of a license there requires them to meet fewer and softer criteria and to comply with less strict rules and requirements than if they registered in other countries. Moreover, costs related to incorporation and regulation are significantly lower in Belize and brokers’ required unimpaired capital needs to be as low as $100,000.

Meanwhile, the regulation is somewhat stricter in Turkey. The CMB constructed a regulatory framework regarding the retail forex market in 2011.The Board oversees, regulates and authorizes, monitors and supervises financial entities that operate in Turkey.

Source: Finance Magnates