In August 2021, the Spanish regulator CNMV issued a warning against VT Markets (www.vtmarkets.com) acting without authorization. The broker’s Client Agreement states Vantage International Group Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands, as the operator. This offshore entity is part of the Vantage Group and holds a Caymen Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) license. The Vantage Group operates a portfolio of other broker brands such as the UK-regulated VantageFX and several unregulated such as Moneta Markets (www.monetamarkets.com), FXMarket Trades (www.fxmarketrades.com), or FXBit Mining (www.fxbitmining.com).
The offshore brokers FXBit Mining and FXMarket Trades link to legal documents on its registration page. Clicking on these particular links will take you to the website of Moneta Markets. Both are unregulated brokers of the Vantage Group operating without authorization from a regulator in the EU. They offer their financial services just as illegally in the EU as VT Markets. The offshore brokers have statements on their websites that they do not accept clients from certain regulatory regimes in the EU such as Spain or France but we were able to register and deposit as EU citizens without any problems.
All three unregulated brokers use the PandaTS platform as white label mutations.
Vantage Group operates various brands and domains through at least the four legal entities listed below:
| Entity | Jurisdiction | Regulator |
|---|---|---|
| Vantage International Group Limited | Cayman Islands | Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) |
| Vantage Global Limited | Vanuatu | Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) |
| Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd | Australia | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) |
| Vantage Global Prime LLP | United Kingdom | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) |
The partners of the UK Entity are David Shayer and TTMM Ltd, which controls the company, and where the Chinese Xueniu Zhang, born in January 1955, is registered as director and controlling person. David Shayer is also the FCA-approved compliance officer.
However, neither the offshore CIMA nor the Australian ASIC license entitles Vantage International Group to offer its financial services in the EU. The broker is acting illegally, the CNMV says. Whether VT Markets is also a scam or not, we cannot answer with certainty. However, in case of doubt, investors should assume that an illegally operating broker is a scam. The money will almost certainly be gone.
There is no investor protection whatsoever when trading with an offshore entity, and lawsuits in the Cayman Islands or Vanuatu are pointless. Stay far away from VT Markets and the other brands of this illegally operating offshore broker.
