Audits/Licensing
I'm a little late to the party, but here goes.
I've been following these guys for some time, as many of my friends and colleagues have been sucked in by the promise of high returns and minimal risk. Everything about them seems fishy, but here are a few thoughts about their auditing and licensing/regulation:
- "The results audited by a third party. Each month our results are confirmed by a third party auditor before they are published." - Audited by who?
Reply From Exential Mideast/ Tadawul ME: Every trade that is entered is updated and verified by a third party called My fxbook. Any individual whether a client or not of Exential Mideast/ Tadawul ME can verify that the trades and profits are real and not “too good to be true”
Here's a link to Exential's myfxbook:
Error | Myfxbook . Note that it only shows one three-month-old, $20K account, which is hardly very reassuring for a company that's supposedly been around for years and has many $20K investors. Note also that the returns posted there for previous months do not match the unverified claims on the website.
Finally, last month the myfxbook account's 'track record' went unverified for a couple weeks. During that time, the 'highest balance' shot up to the millions while no withdrawals or deposits were posted. Is this just sloppy management or something more nefarious?
Either way, not very transparent.
Reply From Exential Mideast/ Tadawul ME: We are into strategic alliance with Sands brokerage house(S&S) which is one of the regulated entities by UAE Central Bank which is the highest regulator of financial institutions in the UAE.
All accounts are opened in individuals name directly through S&S which means we get audited by the Central Bank authorities. Our primary broker is FCI Markets INC, which is incorporated in the BVI and regulated by the FSC.
The auditors of FCI Markets are Deloitte and Touche. Once again we are regulated by one of the top 5 auditors in the world.
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Reply From Exential Mideast/ Tadawul ME: I too can CONFIRM that Exential Investments INC is not licensed to provide financial services and is not licensed or regulated by the DIFC or DFSA.
We are Exential Mideast Commercial Brokers LLC, registered with the Dubai Economic Department under trade licence # 671909. We are AUTHORIZED by S&S Brokerage House, FCI Markets INC and VIBHS Financials to solicit business.
Firms conducting brokerage business in the UAE are required to be licensed by the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). Firms licenced by the SCA can be found on their web site at Securities and Commodities Authority
Reply From Exential Mideast/ Tadawul ME: We agree as it does not apply to us as we are authorized by S&S Brokerage House (Regulated by the Central Bank of UAE) to solicit clients.
I have been provided with the relevant licenses/documents and would be happy to share with whoever is interested. I'm no lawyer, but here's the gist:
-A form detailing the relationship between FCI, S&S, and Exential claims that Exential is an Introducing Broker able to manage client funds solely through LPOAs.
-Exential keeps name-dropping S&S, whose Central Bank license states "Please note that this license does not permit the holder to accept deposits or manage others' funds in any form whatsoever."
-Their DED license does not mean anything except that they are an entity. As a brokerage or money managers, they would still be under the jurisdiction of the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority, and it seems to be by-the-book illegal for them to practice financial brokerage without an SCA license, as per the SCA website.
Bottom line is that Exential/TadawulME do not seem to be audited, licensed for or regulated in any real way. Dubai is a weird place in terms of laws and regulations and enforcement, and they seem to stay under the radar and likely have enough 'wasta' to avoid any trouble with the authorities as long as they keep paying out 'profits.' They could very well even be legitimate in their dealings. However, claiming or insinuating that they are (indirectly) licensed, regulated, or even audited when they are very much not reeks of hucksterism.
If anything has been misunderstood, I look forward to Exential's prompt reply.