On September 29 and 30, 2020, the German Financial Market Authority BaFin issued several Cease and Desist Orders against German companies that provide payment processing services without the appropriate authorization. The BaFin order against the German companies is related to the international broker scams GiroFX, STSRoyal, and Fibonetix against which other regulators have already issued warnings.
Many scams use German companies to process bank transfers and register with regulated payment processors as a merchant for credit and debit card payments. BaFin has issued Cease and Desist Orders against the following companies which facilitated scams and investment fraud:
- Skala Global Handels UG (link)
- Global tech Mc GmbH in connection with GiroFX (link)
- Asterblum GmbH i.G. in connection with GiroFX (link)
- Brunnlitz GmbH in connection with STSRoyal (link)
- Simhaone Handel UG in combination with Fibonetix (link)
The UK FCA (here) and the Italian CONSOB (here) warned against the broker Scam operated by the German Capital Letter GmbH (www.stsroyal.ccom) in March 2020. BaFin also issued a Cease and Desist Order against Capital Letter GmbH in July 2020. Capital Letter also operates the scams GFXRoxal (www.gfxroyal.com) and BrightFinance (www.brightfinance.co).
The Canadian regulator Nova Scotia Securities Commission issued a warning against GiroFX in July 2020. The Australian ASIC issued an investor warning against Fibonetix in December 2019.
