Federal Financial Supervisory Authority

22.06.2022 | Topic Unauthorised business Trading platforms hashtrade.pro, equity-broker.co and prgntrade.co: BaFin investigates Xertz Consulting Inc. In accordance with section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG), BaFin would like to make clear that Xertz Consulting Inc., Dominica, has not been granted authorisation under the KWG to conduct banking business or provide financial services. The company is not supervised by BaFin. The information provided on the websites operated by Xertz Consulting Inc., hashtrade.pro, equity-broker.co and prgntrade.co, and the information and documents available to BaFin give reasonable grounds to suspect that the company is conducting banking business and/or providing financial services in Germany without the required authorisation. Other evidence suggests that the company is also responsible for the password-protected website equity-broker.cc. In the past, Xertz Consulting Inc. has also appeared in connection with the sites paragon-finance.io, paragon-finance.cc and hashtrade.io. The website paragon-finance.io provided investors with two false addresses in Switzerland for the provider. BaFin also has evidence to suggest that Xertz Consulting Inc., under the name Equity-Broker Aktiengesellschaft, is involved in the business activities of WillamPartners Company. In this context, an “authorisation certificate” purportedly from BaFin is used, in which Equity-Broker Aktiengesellschaft is named as the “Aussteller” (issuer) of a securities prospectus. BaFin would like to make clear that it does not issue authorisation documents of this nature: the certificate is a forgery. BaFin issued a corresponding warning on its website on 20 April 2021. BaFin has received evidence suggesting that Xertz Consulting Inc. is also responsible for the trading platforms investcore.pro and investcore.ltd. BaFin’s investigations have been expanded to include these two platforms. BaFin has been made aware that customers of the trading platform investcore.pro have received letters purporting to be from BaFin. These letters are addressed to InvestCore FC Verwaltung, Eschborn, or to DNCA INVEST 732960, Luxembourg. The letters relate to the granting of authorisation under the KWG to InvestCore FC GmbH and to Fortinbras Management GmbH. These letters are forgeries and did not originate from BaFin. BaFin also wishes to emphasise that there is no connection between the authorised financial services institution MEX Asset Management GmbH, registered with BaFin under the BAK no. 119375 and previously known under the name Fortinbras Management GmbH, and the letters referred to above or the companies named therein. The use in some cases of the name Fortinbras Management GmbH is therefore a case of identity theft perpetrated against MEX Asset Management GmbH. BaFin also wishes to point out that there are no indications of any connection between the company DNCA INVEST 732960 named in the letters and the portfolio management company DNCA Finance, which is authorised in France and uses the name DNCA Investments on its website. This may also be a case of identity theft. 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 granted authorisation 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 consumers 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. BaFin has already issued a number of warnings regarding fraud committed by certain international trading platforms, such as those published in August and December 2018 and in May 2020.