LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that ASIC regulated retail forex broker MahiFX has been successful in bringing down the website of clone broker Great Trade. We had earlier exclusively reported on the existence of Great Trade back in August, and of MahiFX’s continued attempts to get them offline.
The Great Trades website was at great-trade.net, and had promised investors seemingly phenomenal returns, often a red flag that the site/company is a fraud. Great Trade had actually displayed the names and pictures of four MahiFX executives, copied directly from the MahiFX website, as if they had those same roles at Great Trade, including MahiFX CEO David Cooney.
Great Trades’ website had claimed that the company was registered in Belize. However the Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) issued a pronouncement that Great Trade is fraudulently claiming to be registered in Belize and is holding itself out as being licensed to provide online trading in securities and forex services, but no such company is registered or licensed in the country. The Certificate of Incorporation and Good Standing which was posted on Great Trade’s website was apparently a forgery.
Based on our analysis, it appears as if Great Trade had been targeting the Russia and Vietnam forex markets, running ad campaigns in each of those jurisdictions.
MahiFX is aiming to be the next international retail forex broker to receive an FCA license in the UK, with a view to expanding its business in the UK and Europe. A company statement recently issued mentioned that ‘FCA approval and regulation is pending‘.