The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been rather active lately in cautioning the public about clone firms. The latter usually abuse a trademark, emulate a name of a firm, its services and websites, in order to fraudulently benefit from the established reputation of a regulated entity.
Earlier today, the UK watchdog published a warning about a clone of FCA-regulated FX broker Ikon Finance Limited. The latter is registered with the regulator and legitimately offers OTC Forex trading services to clients in the United Kingdom.
The clone, operating under the name Ikon Finance, is setting itself vaster ambitions: it offers a wider range of services that are not limited to Forex at all. The website of the fraudulent entity (www.ikonfinance.uk.com) offers services ranging from commercial property investments to mezzanine loans.
The website of the clone firm also shows signs that are typical for misleading advertising, including promises of no risks.
The FCA wishes to remind all investors to check whether a company is regulated, before signing any contracts with it. This can be done at the designated website of the Financial Services Register.
To make sure that you distinguish the original firm and the clone, here are their details.
Clone firm details
Firm name: Ikon Finance
Website: www.ikonfinance.uk.com/
Email: [email protected]
FCA authorised firm details
Firm name: Ikon Finance Limited
Firm reference number: 525113
Address:The Gherkin, 30 St Mary Axe, 28th Floor, London EC3A 8BF
Telephone Numbers: 0203 384 0750
Website: www.ikonfinance.com/
Email: [email protected]
You can view the official text of the warning about Ikon Finance’s clone here.