<p>The Cyprus
Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) published on Thursday a new warning
regarding the activity of an unregulated cryptocurrency firm, IMS Crypto.
According to the Cypriot regulator, the entity falsely claims to possess a CySEC
trading license, using the details of the authorized company.</p><p>IMS Crypto on CySEC
Warnings List</p><p>The ims-crypto.com
website, which was placed on the warning list on 9 February 2023, falsely
claims to be run by Initial Merit Secure Ltd. which, under the IMS Crypto
brand, offers access to crypto managed investments, offering a monthly return
of 15%.</p><p>Information
on the website shows that the company is licensed by CySEC and registered as a
Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) under license number 219/14. According to the
regulator’s register, this CIF license actually belongs to Initial Merit Secure
Ltd, but the entity uses the imsmarkets.com website address. IMS Markets offers
trading to retail clients based on contracts for difference (CFDs).</p><p>”The
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (‘CySEC’) informs the investment
public that the website below, does not belong to an entity registered to CySEC’s
register as Crypto Asset Service Provider, as provided by article 61E of the
Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Laws of
20071, as amended,” CySEC wrote in its statement.</p><p>CySEC
reminds retail investors to always check with the regulator’s registry whether the
trading company is registered as a cryptocurrency service provider or any other
financial services provider before deciding to enter into a business relationship.</p><p>Just two
weeks ago, <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/cysec-warns-against-5-unregulated-fxcfds-platforms/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>the Cypriot regulator warned against another five unregulated CFDs
platforms</a>, including inforexeu.com, et-fx.com, nbimarkets.com and
emporiumcapital.ltd. At the time of publishing its warning, only the inforexeu.com
website was not responding, while the others continued to encourage investment.</p><p>CySEC Revokes Two Licenes
in February</p><p>Although February
barely started, CySEC has already cancelled the authorizations of two trading
companies, F1Markets Ltd and FF Simple and Smart Trades Investment Services Ltd.</p><p><a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/brokers/cysec-withdraws-license-of-fxcfds-brokerage-operator-f1markets/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>F1Markets
operated multiple trading brands</a>, including Investous. However, according to a
notice on the F1Markets’ website, the company closed its services last May. It
closed all the open positions on 19 May 2022 and asked traders to withdraw their funds.</p><p>Last week, CySEC withdrew the operational license of <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/cysec-withdraws-license-of-tradocenter-and-toro-invest-operator/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>FF Simple and Smart Trades Investment
Services Ltd</a>, operating at least two trading brands: TradoCenter and Toro
Inveter. As in the previous case, the withdrawal came as the company itself
decided to renounce its CIF license.</p><p>Watch the recent iFX EXPO International 2022 Opening Keynote by CySEC Chairman.</p><p>One in Three Traders Trust
Finfluencers, CySEC Study Finds</p><p>CySEC
recently published the outcomes of a <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/cysec-finds-31-of-retail-investors-rely-on-finfluencers/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>survey conducted amongst retail traders
from Europe</a> to review their decision-making process. According to the study,
31% of questioned investors rely on finance influencers (finfluencers), while
22% made investment decisions based on celebrity endorsements and digital
promotions.</p><p>”Social
media now has a direct influence on investment decisions, but not all the
information can be trusted. Too many investors, including young people, are
taking real risks with their money because they are taking advice and
recommendations from unreliable sources,” a CySEC spokesperson said.</p><p>The number
of investors making decisions based on finfluencers varies by country of
residence. Investors from France were the most likely to rely on social media
(42%), followed by those from the UK (34%), while retail traders from Germany
were the least likely (24%) to take investment advice from celebrities.</p>
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
