In Jan 2020, Finance Magnates reported that Growth Capital LLC, part of CySEC-regulated Mount Nico Group Ltd, would be a subsidiary of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-based broker Invest100. The latter is just one of several offshore brokers facilitated through the FSA Seychelles regulated MarketFinancials Limited. We also found xbprime and bkfx. The latter used to be operated by MarketsFinancial until 2020 but is now operated by South African BKFX (Pty) Ltd and BKFX LLC in St. Vincent & The Grenadines.
Key data
| Trading names | Invest100 xbprime |
| Related brand | bkfx (bkfx.io) – report here |
| Domain | www.invest100.com www.xbprime.com https://www.market-financials.com https://www.mnequityresearch.com |
| Legal entities | Marketfinancials Limited (Seychelles) M & N Equity Research Ltd (Cyprus) TechFinancials, Inc (BVI) |
| Jurisdiction | Seychelles Cyprus |
| Related individuals | Nikolaos Petousis |
| Regulator | FSA Seychelles |
| Payment options | Credit and debit cards |
| Payment processors | PayRetailer, SafeCharge Fibonatix (paragon.online), AstroPay, LetKnow, Neteller, Paymaxis, Skrill |
Non-compliant & illegal activities
In our review on April 19, 2022, our staff was able to register us as residents of the EU and UK with both offshore brokers Invest100 and xbprime.
After registration, one can theoretically make unlimited pre-KYC deposits without confirmation of email address or required KYC/AML checks without any problems. The facilitating payment processors are PayRetailer, SafeCharge, and Fibonatix. Both offshore brokers are not compliant with the regulatory frameworks in the EU or UK. They operate illegally without regulatory permission in these regulatory regimes.
Clients of these offshore brokers are not eligible for Investor Compensation Schemes in the UK, EU, or Australia. Furthermore, there is no supervision, no monitoring of whether client funds are held in segregated accounts. Offshore regulators do not even check whether investments or trading actually take place through authorized exchanges or liquidity providers. And finally, clients are not entitled to the assistance of Financial Ombudsman Services.
MarketsFinancial history
Until 2020, MarketsFinancial was part of TechFinancials, a fintech software provider. In Jan 2019, the then AIM-listed TechFinancial announced that it signed an agreement with Cyprus-based M&N Equity Research Ltd to sell its shares in MarketsFinancial. In early 2020, TechFinancial ceased its AIM listing and became a private company. No further announcement on the sale of MarketsFinancial was published. It is not clear, who actually acquired MarketsFinancial but M&N Equity Research is one of the operators of Invest100 and xbprime.
Share information
If you have any information about Invest100, Growth Capital, or M&N Equity Research group, please share it with us through our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
