Fazzaco Weekly Digest: Global Scam Network Behind EverFX; Binance Lifts Russia Restrictions; Highest Civil Monetary Penalty in CFTC Cases
Last week, the US CFTC announced that Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, CEO of South Africa-based financial services provider Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited, was fined over $3.4 billion by a local court for participating in a global multi-level marketing scheme to solicit Bitcoin worth over $1.73 billion.
Another case of international financial fraud involved EverFX, a compliant broker that used to have a nice licensing background, regulated by the UK FCA, Cyprus CySEC, and Cayman CIMA. The BBC conducted a year-long investigation into the scam and recently revealed the horrible truth behind the key organization behind EverFX and other brokers involved in the case.
Here are the related details, as well as some of the most read forex, fintehch and crypto currency industry news pieces and articles from Fazzaco over the past week.
1. Listen to the Article: BBC Reveals The Global Scam Network Behind EverFX
In December 2022, Fazzaco covered the story of the arrest of a former executive of the closed broker EverFX by Spanish police in Barcelona. According to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the head was involved in an international cryptocurrency scam that involved more than one billion euros and over ten thousand victims. BBC conducted a year-long investigation into the scam and recently revealed for the first time the truth behind the key organization behind EverFX and other brokers involved in the case - Milton Group.
The suspects used fake identities and social activities to trick the victims at the call centers. They then convinced the victims to invest in online platforms run by the criminal organization, EPPO said. One of these platforms was EverFX, a popular exchange based in Spain. EverFX had a nice licensing background being a broker regulated by the UK FCA, Cyprus CySEC, and Cayman CIMA.
2. Binance Quietly Lifts Restrictions on Russian Users
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, quietly lifted restrictions on Russian citizens and residents it had imposed over a year ago. In March 2022, after the European Union placed sanctions on Russia in response to its attack on Ukraine, Binance announced it would not support deposits from Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia, as well as any Visa and Mastercard deposits made from the Russia.
Now, the restriction seems to be gone: Users can deposit Russian rubles, euros, British pounds and other currencies from bank cards issued in Russia, crypto news website Forklog reported on Saturday.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has issued an order of default judgment and permanent injunction against Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, the founder and CEO of South Africa - based financial services provider Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI), requiring Steynberg to pay $1,733,838,372 in restitution to defrauded victims and a $1,733,838,372 civil monetary penalty.
The fine is the highest civil penalty in all CFTC cases and the action is the largest fraudulent scheme involving Bitcoin charged in any CFTC case.
4. Institutional FX Trading Volume Rose for the Third Consecutive Month in March 2023
The trading volumes of leading institutional FX and ECN platforms in March 2023 have been revealed, generally showing an overall rise. The report covers Average Daily Volume (ADV) of institutional FX trading volumes from six major venues, namely Cboe FX, CLS, Euronext FX, FxSpotStream, Refinitiv and 360T.
The six companies all reported an increase in average daily FX trading volumes in March 2023 versus the prior month. Overall, Cboe has the biggest percent of MoM increase of 15.5 percent, followed by Euronext FX and CLS with 10.2 percent and 6.6 percent. FxSpotStream, 360T and Refinitiv are showing a MoM rise of 6.4 percent, 5.3 percent and 2 percent respectively.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced today that it has placed restriction notices to 10 brokers, banning them from dealing with or processing certain assets held in 31 trading accounts.
According to the official press release, these accounts are related to a suspected social media ramp-and-dump scam involving the shares of a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited between November 2021 and June 2022.
6. Despina Iapona Named Global Head of PR and Branding at XS.com
XS.com, the multinational global FinTech and financial services provider, continues strengthening its team, hiring Despina Iapona, who boasts a decade of experience in marketing and communication, with a strong background in financial services, as its new Head of PR and Branding.
"I'd like to offer a sincere and warm welcome to Despina Iapona as she joins the XS.com team as our new Head of PR and Branding," said Mohamad Ibrahim, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at XS.com. "Despina's extensive experience and expertise in PR and branding will be invaluable as we continue to build our brand, engage with our traders and partners, and accelerate our growth."
7. Finery Markets Launches Electronic OTC-as-a-Service Solution for Digital Assets
The fully electronic OTC trading solution Finery Markets has recently introduced a ready-to-deploy crypto trading solution FM Liquidity Match. The firm dubbed the new offering as the first-ever electronic OTC-as-a-service for digital assets.
With a proprietary matching engine, FM Liquidity Match allows market players to launch a fully electronic OTC trading business and manage client relations throughout the entire trade cycle. And it is available through a GUI or API.
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