Things are not getting better for embattled South Africa-based retail forex broker ACM Gold.
As the company is attempting to have its FSB license reinstated from ‘provisionally withdrawn’ status – which for the time being restricts ACM Gold to dealing with existing clients, but it cannot onboard any new clients – another of its sources of clients has gotten into hot water.
South Africa’s financial regulator the FSB has issued a warning against doing business with Go Direct Stock Market Investments (GDSMI), and its executives Mr. Mzoxolo Bezu and Mr. Mbuso Mthethwa. Go Direct bills itself on its website as an Introducing Broker to ACM Gold.
The FSB warning stated that it had received complaints from Go Direct clients that their money has never been paid back, and that they have not received promised returns on their investments.
All clients were promised specific returns but on the day upon which the money was supposed to be paid, they were notified of new conditions – such as penalties, fees or 30% taxes. They were also told that the stock market had fluctuated, or that GDSMI would be keeping the interest that the investor had earned.
Neither Go Direct nor its principals are representatives of an authorised financial services provider as required by South Africa’s Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act.
As for ACM Gold, as we reported earlier we believe that its current regulatory problems stem from doing business with another of its IBs which had promised outsized returns to clients, only to be exposed as a fraud. We will have more on that story shortly for our readers.
To see the FSB warning against Go Direct click here.