Federal Financial Supervisory Authority

30.03.2022 | Topic Unauthorised business Trading platform tradesafecryptofx.com: BaFin investigates Trade Safe CryptoFX In accordance with section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG), BaFin would like to make clear that Trade Safe CryptoFX has not been granted authorisation under the KWG or the German Investment Institutions Act (Wertpapierinstitutsgesetz – WpIG) to conduct banking business or provide financial services. The company is not supervised by BaFin. Based on the contents of the website tradesafecryptofx.com and on information and documents available to BaFin, there are grounds to suspect that the platform is being used to conduct banking business and/or to provide financial services in Germany without the required authorisation. In several places on its website, the company claims to be regulated by BaFin. This claim is not true. The links contained on the company’s website, tradesafecryptofx.com, unlawfully lead to a page in BaFin’s database of companies showing the authorisation of NSFX Limited, an institution authorised in Malta, as a cross-border service provider under section 74 of the WpIG. NSFX Limited operates the website nsbroker.com. Key parts of this website, such as the link to BaFin’s website, have been copied by those responsible for the platform tradesafecryptofx.com. NSFX Limited has no connections whatsoever to the website tradesafecryptofx.com. This is therefore a case of identity theft committed against NSFX Limited. On tradesafecryptofx.com, the operator of the website primarily refers to itself using the name Trade Safe CryptoFX. In a few locations, however, it also uses the names P24O Limited and Prime24 Option. The business addresses stated on the website – some of which do not even exist – are located in the United States. In one section of the website, it is claimed that the operator is a Maltese company. Companies that conduct banking business or provide financial services in Germany require authorisation under the KWG. However, some companies operate without the necessary authorisation. Information on whether a particular company has been authorised by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that anyone seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to avoid becoming the victim of fraud.