Scammed? Where to Get Help
Reporting The Forex Raiders Of Your Lost FX Account Is Always Good Idea
Have you been the victim of an elaborate scam in the Forex market? Not to worry. There are places where you can run to for help if you feel you have been taken advantage of.
There are regulatory agencies which have been created to protect you and I from the various Forex scams that are perpetrated daily. However, these agencies will only help you if the entity that you feel has short-changed you is located in their jurisdiction. If you did business with entities in places without appropriate FX regulation, then your chances are slimmer but there are still opportunities to seek redress and we shall address some of them right here.
FSA
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the regulatory watchdog that supervises the Financial industry in the United Kingdom.
CFTC
The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) started operations in 1974 and since then, has proved itself to be a watchdog of the forex and futures markets. The CFTC's mandate is to protect the trading public from market manipulations and fraudulent practices in the business of commodities, futures and currency trading. CFTC's muscle was seen in 2010 when they handed FXCM an unprecedented $14million penalty in fines and restitution for unwholesome pricing practices in the forex market. The signal was clear: anyone who did not play by the rules, no matter how highly placed would face the music. Such action would enforce the confidence of traders in the market. Located in the futures trading cities of Chicago, Kansas City, New York and with HQ in Washington DC, traders in the US and using US brokers can easily access help if they feel they have been cheated by a broker or market participant.
NFA
Located in the US and performing the function of registering members of the trading exchanges on behalf of the CFTC, the National Futures Association also serves as a regulator in the forex market. By extension, a dealer in the forex market must be a member of the NFA and overseen by the CFTC.
Registration with the NFA is a stringent process which also involves digital fingerprinting as part of background checks conducted by the FBO to ensure that no one with a criminal record is ever involved in the business of handling money belonging to the trading public.
There are also important regulators in other divisions as the major forex brokerages are also located in Cyprus, Denmark, the Australasian region, Switzerland and Hong Kong. These regulatory agencies are as follows:
CySEC
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission has become a very important player in the forex regulatory business as a result of the use of Limassol and Nikosia (towns in Cyprus) by so many brokerages and financial services firms for business. Some high profile scams perpetrated out of brokerages purportedly located in Cyprus (but which in actual fact maintain skeletal offices in Cyprus and main operations in indeterminate locations) has forced CySEC into making sweeping changes in regulation of forex activities in that country. CySEC has recently stepped into the binary options domain and with the new MiFID regulatory protocol that mandates all brokerages in Europe to be signatories to the new regulatory system, it is very hard now to perpetrate a forex scam in Cyprus and not get caught. Cyprus is serious enough not to be labelled the black sheep of Europe, and CySEC is playing a major role in getting this right.
ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission started operations in 1991 and regulates all categories of companies in the financial services sector (banks, credit firms, capital market operators and forex brokerages). Some forex firms who have offices in Australia are required to be registered with CySEC.
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission conducts regulatory oversight in Hong Kong, which is a major forex hub in Asia.
FINMA/ARIF
These two separate bodies conduct regulation of the capital and forex markets in Switzerland respectively.
If you have been a victim of a forex scam by a dealer or other market participant, or even by some third-party agency and you are located outside of these jurisdictions, The Traders Court of the Forex Peace Army could be another place to take your case to. I say this tongue firmly in cheek by the way 🙂 There are registered professionals in the banking, legal and financial sector who can examine your case and give you advice on how to pursue the recovery of your money. Many cases have been resolved and have led to the jailing of offenders. So do not despair; there is hope.
