Chiara Albanese of the Wall Street Journal broke news today about a managed FX account company by the name of FX World (fxwma.com). The firm’s license was suspended by the FCA back in June and is now under investigation by City of London Police.
In response to a Wall Street Journal request for comment from City police, they responded with: “[We] are investigating a foreign-exchange company in relation to fraud,” police spokesman Eddie Townsend said Wednesday, No arrests have been made, he said.
The firm address per the FCA register was listed as:
1st Floor
60, New Broad Street
London
UNITED KINGDOM
EC2M 1JJ
FX World operated under a license granted by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, which was suspended on June 29, according to a spokesperson at the FCA. FX World, which offered what looks like managed account services, isn’t allowed to operate without the license.
Before the website was suspended and since taken down, the site listed Clint Canning as CEO and Gary Andrews was head of trading. A principal listed on the FX World FCA register was known as Forexmax Ltd. whose FCA licensed expired in 2013.
Mr. Canning was an analyst and portfolio manager, according to a biography posted on the FX World website, before it was taken down. Mr. Andrews worked as a FX trader at a number of banks, including Rabobank, according to his biography that was previously on FX World site.
Rabobank suspended two currencies traders in October 2014 following an internal investigation, including a London-based trader named Gary Andrews. A LinkedIn profile with Mr. Andrews’s name says he is head of trading a FXWMA, also known as FX World, and was a dealer at Rabobank until October 2014. Rabobank didn’t respond to requests for comment.
LeapRate will continue to monitor this story, to see the original Wall Street Journal piece, click here.