The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has earlier today updated its Alert List of unlicensed companies, with the latest additions including a set of clone websites of investment giant BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK).
The Hong Kong regulator notes that a company presenting itself as Blackrock Financial Co Ltd is misusing the details of a licensed entity. The watchdog stresses that the clone is not associated with BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited, an SFC-licensed corporation.
The clone operates from the following websites:
- www.815048.com;
- www.078517.com;
- www.860119.com;
- www.697338.com;
- www.211776.com;
- www.093944.com.
Blackrock Financial Co Ltd provides the following address: 23/F B07 Hover Industrial Building, No. 26-38 Kwai Cheong Road, Kwai Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong, and the SFC says that this address belongs to a secretarial company.
BlackRock is not the first financial services giant to be targeted by clones in Hong Kong. In December last year, the SFC issued a warning against clones of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS). Earlier in 2015, there have been warnings about clones of Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC).
You can view the SFC warning about the BlackRock clones by clicking here.