UK regulatory body FCA warns about a clone company impersonating Axi
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The UK financial market regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has issued a warning against “AXI Corp Limited.” The latter is a clone company mimicking Axi and its sister company, One Financial Markets, registered with the regulatory body.
FCA warns of a clone company impersonating Axi
The clone company is operating under the name AXI Corp Limited. It is duping investors into believing it is the same company as Axi, a forex and contract for difference (CFD) broker registered with the FCA. The FCA flagged the clone website in an alert published on its website.
The statement issued by the FCA noted that the clone firm was operating in a location that differed from where the two authorized firms, Axi and One Financial Markets, operate. The clone firm is located in Leadenhall Street, London, while the two legitimate companies are at 1 Finsbury Market, London.
The regulatory body is yet to reveal the website of the clone firm, under which it is luring clients to invest in the financial services it promotes. The regulator has only shared the clone company’s telephone and email addresses.
AxiCorp is a brokerage company based in Australia. The company closed the acquisition of One Financial Markets in August 2018. Following this acquisition, the brokerage company trades under Axi Financial Services (UK) Limited. Axi is managed by AxiCorp Limited.
In the warning, the FCA noted that all the UK companies and individuals offering financial services needed to be registered with the regulator. However, some firms, such as the clone firm, operated without regulatory approval.
“Almost all firms and individuals carrying out financial services activities in the UK have to be authorized or registered by us. This firm is not authorized or registered by us but has been targeting people in the UK, claiming to be an authorized firm,” the regulator said.
FCA cracks down on clone companies
The FCA has been actively cracking down in clone websites and companies that were impersonating registered brokerage companies that were duly registered. Mid last year, the FCA issued an alert about a clone website that impersonated Zenfinix, an FX and CFD brokerage company situated in London. According to the regulator, the clone company wanted to scam investors in the UK.
Early last year, the FCA noted that Crypto-Trade was a clone company that was imitating registered company Rational Foreign Exchange Limited. According to the FCA, the clone firm was operating a website through which it promoted its financial services.
Between January and March 2022, the FCA flagged three other cline companies. The regulatory body noted that AZOpitons was the name of one of the clone firms claiming to provide crypto services targeting retail and institutional investors. The supervisor further warned about the XTB and IC Markets clone companies that were also mimicking legitimate websites.
