Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
XTrade, a forex broker regulated in Cyprus, Belize and Australia, obtained a license from South Africa’s Financial Service Board (FSB), claim media reports.
The license would allow traders in South Africa to open onshore trading accounts and would facilitate them, because the country has very strict limits on the sums South African citizens can hold in offshore accounts, without having to pay high taxes.
Mark Leigh, COO of Xtrade, told the AtoZ Forex site that the broker had a long standing wish to expand on the South African market. “We worked hard for this licence and are thrilled about our company’s prospects in South Africa,” Leigh said. “Traders there will now enjoy Xtrade’s trading services, many of which have earned awards and recognition by leading financial publications, such as Forex Report.”
SMN could not verify independently the information about the South African license of Xtrade, as it has not been added neither to the broker’s site, nor has been published on FSB’s site.
XTrade holds licenses from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) as Xtrade Europe, the Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) as Xtrade.BLZ and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as Xtrade.AU. In July the broker joined Russia’s self-regulatory organization NAFD (former CRFIN) and said it will apply for a Russian license.
Xtrade offers trading in forex, commodities, indices, shares and CFDs on its proprietary platform Xtrader Pro. Its European head office is in Cyprus, but the contact numbers are from the UK. It is active in some of the EU countries, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
XTrade is one of the forex brokers that advertise through sport, namely has a contract with the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo who also has contracts with Coca-Cola, internet betting sites, Nike, Emirates, etc.
Not long ago Xtrade got in the trouble with the ASIC over suspicions of improper handling of client money and with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) for accepting as clients British Columbia residents, without having the proper license to do so.
Last week Hong Kong’s regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), warned Xtrade was unlawfully targeting Hong Kong residents. The claim was vehemently denied by the broker.
