Developing “market making”: links between fxpremiere and XM1- Presentation of fxpremiere
Fxpremiere is a website facilitating the sale of ‘forex signals’, a list of trades deemed to be winning or advantageous, with the aim for investors to engage in ‘copy trading’. Fxpremiere has a commercial partnership with the XM trading platform, which translates into redirect links to the www.xm.com registration page.
Reviews from fxpremiere users are fairly negative: our partner Forex Peace Army noted last November that fxpremiere representatives were making a special effort to influence potential customers in the company’s favor.
It’s worth noting that fxpremiere.com is just one of a number of sites selling forex signals belonging to the same group and/or acting under the same ‘fxpremiere’ brand name. In fact, the www.fx-premiere.com and www.fxpremieresignal.com sites link directly to www.fxsignals.services, itself a carbon copy of the www.fxpremiere.com site with the same graphic charter. So many domains for the sale of the same service seems nebulous to us.
In addition to an emphasis on creating false positive reviews to boost fxpremiere’s reputation, there is an attempt to invalidate negative opinions about the forex signals sales service or the company’s legitimacy.
It appears that fxpremiere representatives don’t give individuals the opportunity to reveal their negative experience, and systematically attack those who publish reviews that go against the company’s business interests. In fact, in the last 24 hours, fxpremiere representatives have gone so far as to report the publication of this disgruntled individual:
One wonders why such pressure is being exerted to conceal negative opinions that could harm fxpremiere’s commercial activity. Furthermore, considering the “market maker” model, the sale of forex signal subscriptions might not be fxpremiere’s only source of revenue: it is quite likely that fxpremiere is remunerated according to the number of clients brought to an affiliated or partner trading platform.
2- Presentation of XM
XM is the trading name associated with the online trading platform www.xm.com, owned by Trading Point Holdings Limited. The parent company, Trading Point Holdings Limited, is registered in Cyprus under number HE 322690, which means that it is a Cypriot company that owns the international operators of several locally regulated XM trading platforms. This can potentially lead to conflicts of interest for consumers of financial products who trade from platforms associated with the XM trade name.
Indeed, in addition to the XM trade name, Trading Point Holdings Limited owns:
– Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd (CySEC – Cyprus)
– Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd (ASIC – Australia)
– Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Limited (FCA – United Kingdom)
– XM Global Limited (FSC – Belize)
– XM International (BS) Limited (SCB – Bahamas)
– Trading Point MENA Limited (DFSA – Dubai)
If connected from a European server, the XM trading platform registration page is automatically associated with the European-regulated Cypriot entity. If, however, a user attempts to register on the XM platform from outside Europe, a box will appear, announcing the redirection of the registration to the Australian entity, or to the Belize-registered entity for all other nationalities:
This box therefore announces that the operating entity of the XM trading platform will not be Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd (registered and regulated in Cyprus by CySEC), despite the fact that the latter supervises the https://www.xm.com website:
Here, moreover, we can observe contradictory information: it is stated that the XM website is managed by Trading Point of Financial Instruments Limited (the Cypriot entity that complies with the European regulatory framework), then that the trading platform does not provide its services to citizens of, among others, the European Union, but finally that the XM platform provides its services to residents of the European Economic Area as well as the United Kingdom.
Several questions are raised by this information, for example, if the Cypriot entity supervises XM customers in the UK, what is the function of Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Limited? What does the UK financial regulator FCA regulate, if customers residing in the UK and XM’s activities in these territories are subject to the Cypriot regulator CySEC?
3- Potential issues and abuses
Moreover, online reviews from XM users are overwhelming: the TrustPilot website lists 349 customer reviews of the platform, with a negative review rate of 67%. This means that over half the people who took the time to leave a review about their trading experience with XM are dissatisfied with their experience with the platform.
When analysing and comparing reviews from XM users, as well as responses from official XM representatives, it becomes clear that one compelling argument under the platform’s terms and conditions is recurrent. Many people have had their accounts terminated without explanation:
Mention is made of alleged arbitrage. According to Investopedia, arbitrage trading consists of “The simultaneous purchase and sale of the same asset in different markets in order to profit from tiny differences in the asset’s listed price.” This is also the argument put forward by XM representatives:
XM’s terms and conditions of use are unequivocal: the platform reserves the right to suspend, at its own discretion, any account that may be engaging in arbitrage – be it a deliberate pattern of fraudulent action, or an individual trading strategy that can be likened to this practice. In particular, paragraph 53.4 of their terms and conditions leaves it up to XM to decide what qualifies as arbitrage.
In conclusion, we can question several possible problematic postures:
• Is XM aware that private investors most likely won’t perform due diligence and/or won’t understand the legal implications when the platform announces the affiliation of one or the other operating entity belonging to Trading Point Holdings Limited?
• Are the individuals redirected from fxpremiere to the XM trading platform made aware of certain restrictive or discretionary terms of use?
• To what extent is the fxpremiere business model compatible with the XM trading platform? Can the practice of copy trading with forex signals be deemed against the T&C of XM?
• Is XM aware of the public instances of backlash towards investors perpetuated by fxpremiere representatives?
• Is XM aware of the duplicity of fxpremiere websites and online presence?
Disclaimer:
The Financial Fraud Lawyers network aims to inform private investors (traders) of potential malpractices by Forex and CFD brokers. Our mission is to assist and protect traders when they encounter brokerage practices that go against their interests.
Our articles are intended to warn, share and inform the public about the legal risks of Forex and its players. Trading financial products and CFDs as well as investing on online platforms carry legal risks.
The article was written in good faith, based on public information and client testimonials valid at the time of publication. Our articles concern the protection of the interests of individuals on online investment platforms and are published in accordance with our right to inform the public about our activity. This article is not to be considered legal advice.
