Pharaoh
Brigadier General
- Messages
- 20,306
SigmaForex
or
SquidmaForex?
Tentacles in Your Wallet
by Pharaoh
I'll keep writing until they pry my cold dead fingers off the keyboard.
or
SquidmaForex?
Tentacles in Your Wallet
by Pharaoh
I'll keep writing until they pry my cold dead fingers off the keyboard.
I'd like to thank the FPA Scam Investigations Committee for giving me this chance to help out and write up something about a broker that has caused problems for many of my fellow FPA soliders. I'd also like to specially thank FPA Investigator Tessa for providing properly edited documents I've used as background material.
Here's the quick version of what happened in the most recent case:
FPA member Corvinus was facing the usual endless delays and arguments from Sigma over money he wanted to withdraw. Like many before him, he complained to the FPA. FPA Investigator Tessa had just finished helping a few others pry their money away from Sigma, and thought this would be another 1-2 months of delays before getting this guy's cash. It looks like Sigma decided they wanted all the money and cut off all communication. Long story short, the FPA considers Sigma to have committed scam by improperly withholding money owed to a trader. Please follow the link to the official FPA Scam Finding (the first link at the end of this post) for full details.
For my usual readers, you're probably wondering why a writing addict like me turned an entire FPA Scam Investigation into one little paragraph. It's because the main scam finding has that story and I've got a bunch of other details on Sigma. Tessa warned them on more than one occasion that if they failed to pay traders, those behind SigmaForex would be unmasked. I'd like to share this info with anyone who might need to recover money from this company.
Sigma Forex is really registered as:
SIGMAREX LIMITED
SUITE B, 29 HARLEY STREET
LONDON
W1G 9QR
Company No. 06481102 (companieshouse.gov.uk business license number)
Nature Of Business (SIC(92)): 7499 - Non-trading company (Hmmmnnn???)
Neither SigmaRex or any of it's listed appointments seem to be registered with the FSA in the UK. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that this sort of registration was mandatory or UK Brokers.
According to Companieshouse, those appointments are:
DIRECTOR: KARIM, MOHAMED
Nationality: BRITISH
Address: VASSBOTTEN 19, TANUM, SWEDEN, 45750
DIRECTOR: SIGMAREX LLC
Address: 1201 ORANGE STREET, SUITE 600 ONE COMMERCE CENTER, WILMINGTON, DE 19801 USA
Googling this address shows that it's most likely a virtual office.
SECRETARY: UNSVAG, INGJERD
Nationality: BRITISH
Address: OVRE MASAN 5, ASKER, 1383, NORWAY
Googling Ovre Mason 5 in Norway makes me suspicious that this is an anonymous mail drop.
SECRETARY: KARIM, CATHRINE
Nationality: BRITISH
Address: VASSBOTTEN 19, TANUM, SWEDEN, 45750
As mentioned in the Scam Finding, Sigma has made claims that a merger is blocking sending funds (but never seems to tell this story to clients who want money back). That's been going on for quite some time now, and they refuse to release any “confidential details.” There's no mention of it at companieshouse, and almost no data on SigmaRex anywhere online. I hope another FPA member can dig up some info on their Delaware LLC.
Sigma claims they don't need to be FSA registered because they are registered with companieshouse.gov.uk. The only problem is that's just a registrar for companies in the UK, not a financial regulator. They do claim to be compliant or even “highly compliant” with a huge number of regulators around the world. Guess what? Since I don't own a forex brokerage in Switzerland, I'm highly compliant with Swiss brokerage regulations. I'm also pretty sure I've never done anything that wouldn't be complaint with the Wisconsin Cheese Manufacturer's Association, since I don't have any involvement with their products other than being an avid consumer.
Someone at Sigma got pretty silly with the list. In addition to many regulators that one would like a broker to be complaint with, they also claim to be compliant with an organization called Halt Abusive Lending Transactions, which is really only for issues with mortgage loans in New York State.
I'm not the only one who finds this sort of claim to be deceptive. A quick check found warnings from 5 regulators about Sigma's claims.
So, what we have here is an unregulated brokerage that either returns money at a glacial pace or even never. They make claims regarding regulators that are dubious, at best. They've been keeping a 1 star average ever since they hit the FPA's reviews and have tried to set new records for the number of scam complaints filed against a single company.
I know the FPA's Scam Investigators work very hard to avoid labeling a company as scam. Tessa went above and beyond the call of duty a number of times to give Sigma even more time to pay money that was clearly owed to traders. In this case, I think the Scam label is well deserved and long overdue.
Have a nice day, unless you're a scammer.
Official FPA Scam Finding
Corvinus' s original complaint
FPA Review Page for Sigma Forex
SigmaRex (Sigma Forex's real name) business license in the UK
Sigma's claims of compliance (at least until they take it down)
Isle of Man Financial Services Commission Warning about Sigma's claimed compliance
Eastern and South African Anti Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) objects to SigmaForex's use of their logo
Guernsey Financial Services Commission warning about Sigma;s claimed compliance
Gibraltar Financial Services Commission warning about Sigma's claimed complaince
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong warning about Sigma's claimed compliance
