Beware! SwissProMarkets is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
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If you think SwissProMarkets is a broker in Switzerland, then you are profoundly wrong. It’s an anonymous entity that declares to be FCA regulated, to offer competitive spreads and to hold offices on three different continents but all of the claims are fake! So we naturally begin to suspect it’s just another scam scheme the traders may come across. On top of that, they are one of those brokers that do not care to present a contract to the traders in the form of T&Cs, User Agreement, Client agreement and so on, which moreover build the mistrust. Find out everything you need to know about this illegal broker in the full SwissProMarkets review.
SwissProMarkets.com REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
SwissProMarkets claims to be FCA regulated entity but it’s a blatant lie. They have nothing to do neither with Britain nor with Switzerland. The UK is one of the safest financial environments where strict rules should be met if a company wants to operate as a Forex broker; the same applies to Switzerland. SwissProMarkets offers maximum leverage of 1:500, meaning that it’s either breaching the British financial laws or operating illegally. It turned to be the latter because upon research we couldn’t find anything about such an entity in the FCA register. Your funds are in danger if you make a deposit with SwissProMarkets because it’s an unlicensed and unregulated Forex broker that’s trying to deceive the clients in numerous ways.
Strangely enough, on their Contact Page, we see that they show a map with St. Vincent and the Grenadines headquarter address. But it doesn’t change their situation much because SVG is notoriously famous for the lack of adequate financial regulation. In fact, the local authority does not even control the brokers operating there. It doesn’t issue licenses, which means that even if SwissProMarkets is an SVG broker it’s still operating on regulated markets without authorization i.e. illegally. That itself might lead to financial crime, so be aware and stay safe with the legit brokers, there are many of them. For more info about the SwissProMarket legal swamp, check the picture at the end of this section.
Regulation means safety, that’s why you should always choose regulated Forex brokers, such as the EU (mostly CySEC regulated) or the British (FCA regulated) ones. Europe is a safe place for the funds of the traders because there are loads of stringent rules and regulations that apply if a broker wants to obtain a license. The list includes minimum capital requirements of 730 000 EUR; clients’ account segregation; personnel qualification standards and daily trading reports that the brokers have to provide. But what’s most important for the traders is that there are deposit insurance funds the brokers are part of, which guarantee the safety of the clients’ funds. If you trade with CySEC brokers, you can claim up to 20 000 EUR in compensation, while the clients of FCA brokers are guaranteed of even up to 85 000 GBP. Each EU member state is compelled to create and further operate similar insurance funds, which are considered to be the last resort for the traders, in case a Forex broker fails to meet its financial obligations.
SwissProMarkets.com TRADING SOFTWARE
SwissProMarkets offers MetaTrader5 to its clients; MetaTrader4 is not available for trading. Metatrader is the most popular Forex trading platform in the world, so it’s no wonder that SwissProMarkets relies on it. Metatrader is beloved by the traders for its reliability and ease of use. It also comes with powerful tools and features that the traders can hardly find for free anywhere else. The list includes Expert Advisors, Algo trading, Complex Indicators, Strategy Tester and a marketplace where the traders can buy or use for free myriad third-party-developed trading solutions.
The demo account we opened showed a EUR/USD spread of 0.2 pips, but the real account comes with a Buy/Sell quotes difference of 4+ pips. Here we have to mark a red flag because SwissProMarkets misleads the customers by making them believe the trading conditions are good, but the opposite is true! The spread is the price that the clients have to pay to execute a trade, and a difference of 4 pips is quite unfavourable, making SwissProMarkets a costly broker. It’s one more reason to stay away from SwissProMarkets. The industry standard is 1 pips and below, so you can easily find regulated brokers offering competitive spreads.
The maximum leverage possible is 1:500, which is a ratio that’s way too high posing a threat for the funds of the traders. It certainly boosts the profit potential, but the risks coming are enormous, so 1:500 should never be used. The margin call level will be too close to the opening price, and a tiny move of 15-20 pips in the opposite direction might bring the balance down to zero. The risks alone made EU, UK and Australia (from 2021) prohibit levels higher than 1:30; Canada and the US agreed on 1:50 and we recommend that brokers offering higher ratios should be avoided because these might as well be a scam.
SwissProMarkets.com DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
There is no minimum initial deposit specified, which might be considered a downside because the regulated brokers always define the essential conditions. The funding methods accepted are said to be Debit/Credit cards, Wire Transfers, Skrill, Neteller, Perfect Money, PayPal, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Warning! SwissProMarkets doesn’t have Terms and Conditions or another legal document that defines what it takes to trade with them. It’s a major red flag that we’ve already mentioned, but we have to repeat once again and stress on it. SwissProMarkets is an illegal broker that should be avoided because it displays too many warning signs.
As a result, we have no idea about crucial conditions such as minimum withdrawals, request processing time, withdrawal fees, inactivity fees, bonuses, non-deposited funds if apply etc. It’s a fishy enterprise, so the investors have to find another broker to trade with- a regulated one, it’s a must!
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Offshore companies cover many scam schemes. Jurisdictions such as the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of Dominica or St. Vincent and the Grenadines fail to adequately regulate their financial sectors and the three mentioned do not even issue Forex broker licenses. It makes it easy for scammers to quickly incorporate companies there and begin to unlawfully sell Forex products and services on regulated markets such as the Europen, American or Australian ones. Lack of regulation equals lack of customer protection and safety, so even if the broker is not ill-intentioned, the traders remain vulnerable. That’s why you should always avoid offshore brokers, regardless of the promises they make.
Firm cloning is a type of investment scam that’s becoming increasingly popular. The scammers use the names, registration numbers, address etc. of businesses and individuals, which are duly authorized to sell financial products and services. By doing this the fraudsters are trying to gain the trust of the customers and trick them into believing that they are dealing with a genuine and distinguished, renowned company. It is an effective way to take off the guard of the wary investor, who can easily fall in the scammers’ set up. In this case, SwissProMarkets abuse the name of a whole country, which is not an isolated event, as a matter of fact. There are many scam brokers that exploit the Swiss name or speculate to be headquartered in the Alpine country. They are doing it because of the exclusivity- Switzerland has probably the strongest financial sector in the world and even the little kids know about the Swiss banks. Switzerland has a demanding regulator though- a company has to provide 20 million Swiss francs in paid-up capital to get a Swiss FX license. That certainly keeps the scammers away, but nothing can stop them from abusing the name of the country.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
No one is immune to scam, and anyone can fall into the trap. Scammers are always looking for new and different ways to scam consumers. What you need to do first, in case you got scammed, is to protect yourself from further risks. Contact your bank and explain to them your situation, they will give you necessary instructions to follow and will help you, if possible, recover your money.
Report what happened to you, file a complaint, contact the financial regulator, contact other government institutions related to trading and investing. Seek help actively!
It’s very important not to rush blindly trying to recover your funds because many scam recovery agencies and individuals are stalking, aiming to double scam the victims. They will ask for an advanced payment, but will do nothing to help you recover your losses!
Share online your experience; it’s important to protect others, as well. Be responsible!
