Offshore Brokers Not Regulated by FCA | Forex Factory

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Offshore Brokers Not Regulated by FCA

  • #1
  • First Post: Apr 22, 2018 2:43pm Apr 22, 2018 2:43pm
Hello

I have traded with ThinkMarkets few months ago, and made some profits, then all of a sudden they cancelled 17,000 USD of my profits claiming that i have violated the TOS.

I have informed them that i will be filing a complain to FCA and this was their reply!

We noted that you referenced complaint to the FCA in your previous email. ThinkMarkets Group consists of three (3) companies. You have a contract with Think Capital Limited that is registered in Bermuda, Company number: 51879. Registered address: Clarendon House, 2 Church Street, Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda. You are not contracted with TF Global Markets (UK) Limited hence you cannot complain to the FCA. During the application process you agreed to terms and conditions of Think Capital Limited. All your deposits and withdrawals were processed through Think Capital Limited as well.


So the dirty trick is they have a branch in UK that is regulated by FCA that they use to mislead their potential clients, then when you open an account with them, they open the account under some dubious off shore company that you will not be able to legally pursue.
  • #2
  • Apr 22, 2018 4:46pm Apr 22, 2018 4:46pm
So what did they claim you did that violated the TOS?
  • #3
  • Apr 23, 2018 3:11am Apr 23, 2018 3:11am
Quoting meyoik
So what did they claim you did that violated the TOS?
They claim that my trades are off quotes and they have the right to cancel it! i can't understand how ALL trades made through 3 months of trading with dozens of trades per day be ALL off quote!! Obviously it is a canned lame excuse they use when they want to steal some money, because my case is not unique, there are multiple cases on ForexPeaceArmy and other websites with profits cancelled using the same lame excuse!

What is even more important here is that they claim they are regulated by FCA, while they are in practice NOT regulated by FCA. I traded with them on the basis that they are regulated but when i had a conflict now i find myself unable to go to the FCA for resolution. THIS IS PURE CHEATING!!!
  • #4
  • Apr 23, 2018 7:31am Apr 23, 2018 7:31am
That's just so sad, to say the least........I am in USA and also am very limited in broker choices.....
  • #5
  • Apr 23, 2018 9:09am Apr 23, 2018 9:09am
Just curious but are you american as said in your profile? Because if that is the case, you could not ignore you cannot open an account with FCA. How did it happen?
Don't give up on your dreams. Keep sleeping.
  • #6
  • Apr 23, 2018 11:45am Apr 23, 2018 11:45am
Quoting FPipster
Hello I have traded with ThinkMarkets few months ago, and made some profits, then all of a sudden they cancelled 17,000 USD of my profits claiming that i have violated the TOS. I have informed them that i will be filing a complain to FCA and this was their reply! We noted that you referenced complaint to the FCA in your previous email. ThinkMarkets Group consists of three (3) companies. You have a contract with Think Capital Limited that is registered in Bermuda, Company number: 51879. Registered address: Clarendon House, 2 Church Street, Hamilton...
Probably you used arbitrage EA, right? They are regulated by FCA, but you must use proper website for registration: https://www.thinkmarkets.com/uk/, not this one https://www.thinkmarkets.com.
  • #7
  • Apr 23, 2018 2:55pm Apr 23, 2018 2:55pm
Quoting Artcool
Just curious but are you american as said in your profile? Because if that is the case, you could not ignore you cannot open an account with FCA. How did it happen?
No, i am not american, i just wasn't giving it much importance when creating my FF account, I just chose the US. I am living in Egypt.
  • #8
  • Apr 23, 2018 3:04pm Apr 23, 2018 3:04pm
Quoting insomniawawa
{quote} Probably you used arbitrage EA, right? They are regulated by FCA, but you must use proper website for registration: https://www.thinkmarkets.com/uk/, not this one https://www.thinkmarkets.com.
only ONE of branches (the one they will never open your account under) is regulated. That's the trick they use to scam their clients, then when you actually open the account, they open it off shore and they have a little teeny-tiny term in a millions pages TOS that will say they can do that so that they can tell you later you agreed on this.

First month i was using EA, then all the following 2-3 months i was manual trading, so obviously i am not arbitraging. Ironically they processed some of my initial withdrawals while i was using EA trading, and then cancelled trades that were created manually in the following month.
  • #9
  • Apr 23, 2018 3:13pm Apr 23, 2018 3:13pm
So what do you plan to do now?
  • #10
  • Apr 23, 2018 3:24pm Apr 23, 2018 3:24pm
Quoting meyoik
So what do you plan to do now?
Not sure yet, but first of all, warn all fellow traders against these scammers on all reviews websites and forex communities.
  • #11
  • Apr 24, 2018 12:56am Apr 24, 2018 12:56am
This would happen if you are using arbitrage trading. It's useless complaining because the wrong is on your own side.

There's no way to game the system except by really putting in effort in to learn trading. The broker knows you are doing arbitrage at the first day of your account. They just let you think you can get away with it.

The reality is harsh huh.
  • #12
  • Apr 24, 2018 8:38am Apr 24, 2018 8:38am
Quoting CrocodileRex
This would happen if you are using arbitrage trading. It's useless complaining because the wrong is on your own side. There's no way to game the system except by really putting in effort in to learn trading. The broker knows you are doing arbitrage at the first day of your account. They just let you think you can get away with it. The reality is harsh huh.
I am not using arbitrage, most of the trades are manual trades trades, i was manual trading 80% of the time, so clearly it is not arbitrage. And if you search reviews on ThinkMarkets on other websites, you will find that this is a pattern, i am not the only victim.
  • #13
  • Apr 25, 2018 5:57am Apr 25, 2018 5:57am
Quoting FPipster
{quote} I am not using arbitrage, most of the trades are manual trades trades, i was manual trading 80% of the time, so clearly it is not arbitrage. And if you search reviews on ThinkMarkets on other websites, you will find that this is a pattern, i am not the only victim.
Could you add this account to trade explorer?
  • #14
  • Apr 27, 2018 3:44am Apr 27, 2018 3:44am
Quoting insomniawawa
{quote} Could you add this account to trade explorer?
Unfortunately i no longer have access to it, since they have terminated the account.
  • #15
  • Apr 29, 2018 6:58am Apr 29, 2018 6:58am
I’m inclined to agree, they (S.B. firms and certain brokers) often let latent arbitragers build up an account then shut them down, but they flag them up very early. There’s only one method to win using an S.B. firm and that’s swing/position trading. No one EVER had successfully scalped through a market maker/S.B. firm for a significant period of time, the best you can hope for is they close you down early and allow you to keep the funds.

Quoting CrocodileRex
This would happen if you are using arbitrage trading. It's useless complaining because the wrong is on your own side. There's no way to game the system except by really putting in effort in to learn trading. The broker knows you are doing arbitrage at the first day of your account. They just let you think you can get away with it. The reality is harsh huh.
"The meek shall inherit the earth.." Yeah right, good luck with that shit..
  • #16
  • May 2, 2018 1:42pm May 2, 2018 1:42pm
my position have been closed and its still 10 pips away from my sl by thinkmarket, is this common? could it be spread spikes? no news nothing
  • #17
  • May 6, 2018 7:08am May 6, 2018 7:08am
Quoting FPipster
So the dirty trick is they have a branch in UK that is regulated by FCA that they use to mislead their potential clients, then when you open an account with them, they open the account under some dubious off shore company that you will not be able to legally pursue.
HI dude, I feel for you. It is sad. A broker controls the prices they quote, if they accept the opening/closing of the trade, and so on. In fact, they control every aspect of your trades. So, to come afterwards and claim they are unhappy and erase all your profits is wrong. If you had experienced some losses, they would have been perfectly fine with it. They probably waited for exactly that to happen, and when it didn't, they just robbed you. Plain and simple.

About what you're saying, several brokers have an offshore main company and some regulated ones. By default, they only direct customers they NEED to, to register with one of the regulated subsidiary. For ThinkMarkets, they will only register people from Australia/NZ to Australia and Europeans to the UK. They will by default register all the others with the offshore company. That's what happened to you. I don't know if you can ask to do business with their FCA regulated subsidiary if you're not European, maybe. But you would have to ask for it.

Anyway, the only thing you can do now seem to sue them in Bermuda, which would be complicated and expensive. Probably not worth it at all; unfortunately. You can indeed spread the word about it, and you should IMHO, even if it won't earn you anything at this point, except the satisfaction of not having other traders scammed by them. I had a small account with them, and I was regarding them as a legitimate broker. Not anymore; and I won't do any business with them in the future if they are these kind of people.
  • #18
  • May 9, 2018 3:23am May 9, 2018 3:23am
I just read Bermuda, that's all you need to hear to know it is not a good broker
  • #19
  • May 12, 2018 1:58pm May 12, 2018 1:58pm
Quoting Mevo
{quote} HI dude, I feel for you. It is sad. A broker controls the prices they quote, if they accept the opening/closing of the trade, and so on. In fact, they control every aspect of your trades. So, to come afterwards and claim they are unhappy and erase all your profits is wrong. If you had experienced some losses, they would have been perfectly fine with it. They probably waited for exactly that to happen, and when it didn't, they just robbed you. Plain and simple. About what you're saying, several brokers have an offshore main company and some...
I agree with each word you have said, and that's exactly what i am doing now, trying to spread the word on all forex forums and broker review sites!
  • #20
  • Jul 1, 2018 3:49pm Jul 1, 2018 3:49pm
Hello,

Thank you FPipster for sharing your experience with us. I was considering going with ThinkMarkets, but not anymore.
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