Regulators: SVGFSA does NOT regulate Forex, Binary Options, or CryptoCurrencies

There have been several recent FPA scam alert posts with either the thread’s OP or other readers falsely assuming that a company mentioning that they are “registered”, “regulated”, et. al. by St Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (SVG FSA or SVGFSA) implies some regulatory safeguards. So this notice is to explain quite bluntly that SVG FSA has not and currently does not provide any regulation for forex, binary options, or crypto-currency service providers. This includes brokers, signal providers, and technology providers.

Just because there is no regulation, does not necessarily prevent a company from offering those services. It depends on the region. It just means that if there is zero regulatory oversight, then there is no recourse via that region’s regulatory authority should a transaction turn out to have adverse outcome. So basically it is no different than having a private agreement between you and the company. If you are ok with that, then caveat emptor my dear reader.

My understanding of financial markets (particularly off-exchange markets) is that most regions do have some regulatory oversight. This can include:

• • • mandatory registration into a regulatory database,
    • minimum capital requirements,
    • post trade statistics reporting,
    • segregation of client funds from other firm assets,
    • fiduciary responsibility to honor deposits/withdrawals timely,
    • electronic surveillance of order flow,
    • other rules deemed necessary to protect the larger public.

These rules are put in place mainly due to the systemic risk that can spread to the larger society should large losses or loss of confidence occur in certain capital markets.

Another important note:  There are other ways that service providers use “regulation” to try to trick people into thinking their services are more credible. So even the regulated are often fooled as they often only use very basic metrics to judge a broker’s performance (spreads, leverage) and overlook other aspects of evaluating a broker’s “true” business model. Those details are for another article. In the mean time, you can read this report on Prime of Prime service evaluation to get a basic idea of how the different brokerage Tiers work.

With that said, I will quote/attach the proof directly from the horses mouth (SVG FSA and the Financial Intelligence Unit–FIU):

[2019 March 29]…The FSA does not issue any licenses to carry on the business of FOREX Trading or Brokerage or Binary Options Trading nor does the FSA “Regulate, Monitor, Supervise or License” International Business Companies (IBCs) which engage in such activities.

IBCs incorporated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are authorized to engage in any business activity without approval from the FSA, except where the proposed business activity relates to banking, insurance or mutual fund businesses. Banking, insurance and mutual fund businesses are licensed activities. FOREX or Brokers Trading licenses are not issued by any authority in St. Vincent and the Grenadines….

[2019 June 15]…The Authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are aware of the recent growing international trend of Forex Trading and Cryptocurrency. It is advised however, that there is no regulation in place for Foreign Exchange (Forex) Trading and Cryptocurrency offerings in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Furthermore, no Forex Trading or Cryptocurrency licenses are issued in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These are speculative investments with considerable risks to the investor.

Members of the public are urged to exercise caution before engaging in any Forex Trading activities or accepting Cryptocurrency offerings….

[emphasis mine]

Remember to study the  Before you complain to regulators  guide before reaching out.

** thanks to @ScamReporters for pointing out this alternative method of reporting SVG scams.