CySEC issues a warning against an unregulated crypto firm IMS Crypto
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The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) recently warned cryptocurrency users against another suspicious company. The firm in question is called IMS Crypto, and according to the regulator, it is an unregulated firm that falsely claims to be in possession of a CySEC trading license.
The regulator further stated that the firm is using the details of another, actually regulated and authorized the company to avoid detection and attract users. The warning was published yesterday, February 9th, when CySEC placed its website on the warning list.
Details about IMS Crypto
CySEC explained that the company falsely claimed to be run by another firm, Initial Merit Secure Ltd, which offers access to digital asset-managed investments, with a monthly return of 15%.
The information on the website further claims that the firm was licensed by CySEC and that it was registered as a CIF (Cyprus Investment Firm), with a license number 219/14. All of these claims are false, according to the regulator. The CIF license in question belongs to an entirely different company — Initial Merit Secure Ltd. However, the entity uses a website address, “imsmarkets.com.”
As for what it offers — IMS Markets provides retail clients the ability to trade contracts for difference (CFDs). CySEC confirmed that the website does not belong to an entity registered to CySEC’s register as a Crypto Asset Service Provider.
CySEC urges investors to check the companies’ licensing claims
The regulator reminded retail investors to always be on the lookout for companies like this, which offer false information when it comes to licensing.
The safest way to know whether the firm that they are planning on dealing with is legitimate or not would be to check with the local regulator’s registry and try to determine if the trading company is registered as what it claims to be. In this case, that is a cryptocurrency service provider, but this should also be a standard practice for investors regardless of what type of financial service provider they are interested in working with.
The regulator stressed this because, only two weeks ago, it uncovered another five unregulated CFD platforms that were offering their services to users. The firms in question include inforexeu.com, nbimarkets.com, et-fx.com, and emporiumcapital.ltd. Since the companies were unveiled as unregulated firms, only one of their websites went offline, while the others still offer investment services and encourage users to register and invest using their platforms.
Furthermore, the regulator has already canceled the authorizations of two trading firms in February alone, including FF Simple and Smart Trades Investment Services Ltd and F1Markets Ltd.
FF Simple and Smart Trades Investment Services Ltd got its license revoked last week while it was operating at least two different trading brands — Toro Inveter and TradoCenter. According to the regulator, the firm decided to renounce the license on its own. As for F1Markets, it operated several trading brands, but it closed its services last May, according to its website.
