In May 2022, FinTelegram reported about the 2020-plans of BDSwiss to establish BaFin-listed Unleashed Capital Bank (ULC). Back then, BDSwiss claimed to be the fastest-growing CFD broker in Europe and among the fastest growing in the world. But things changed for the worse. In 2021, the FCA banned BDSwiss, in 2022, the BaFin launched investigations and the broker stopped new client onboardings for a few weeks. The ULC project in Berlin has not yet been launched, no license has been obtained. Here is an update.
Key data
| Trading name | Unleashed Capital Bank Unleashed Capital ULC Have Have Bank |
| Business activity | Online banking |
| Legal entities | BDSwiss AG (Switzerland) HAVE Group AG (Switzerland) Have Technology GmbH |
| Domain | https://unleashedcapital.com |
| Related individuals | Jan Eric Malkus (UBO) Alexander Oelfke (UBO) Konstantin Oelfke (Project Lead) Karl Hunger (director) Ivan Vasylchenko (director) |
Short Narrative
In 2020 documents, it was stated that BDSwiss founder Jan Malkus would hold 100% of ULC via BDSwiss AG in Switzerland. German media outlets reported that Ivan Vasylchenko, formerly COO at the hyped online trading startup Trade Republic, Karl Hunger, a former executive at robo-advisor Liqid, and Konstantin Oelfke, COO at BDSWiss, would be the founders and would have the support of BDSwiss in doing so. Jan Malkus himself was listed in the documents as Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) without an active role.
In the meantime, the operating legal entities in Germany have been merged into Have Technology GmbH; The brands Have and Have Bank have been registered. However, The ULC website has not changed for months and is still announcing “Private Banking Reinvented.“
Originally, ULC bank was to complement the portfolio of BDSwiss Group and sell direct brokerage products to investors. The proximity to CySEC-regulated multi-asset broker BDSwiss was expected to quickly give ULC a turbo-boost to attract more than 500,000 customers. The market launch was scheduled for Q4 2021.
Currently, it does not look like a quick launch of ULC. The now depressed fintech environment and possibly also the problems of BDSwiss are probably contributing to this. Moreover, it looks that Jan Malkus and the other BDSwiss guys have changed their focus and launched a new fintech project in Cyprus.
The Skyground Project
According to their LinkedIn profile, former BDSwiss Group CEO Alexander Oelfke and his brother Konstantin Oelfke left BDSwiss in 2021 to run the news Skyground (www.skyground.group) fintech group in Cyprus, another project powered by Jan Malkus.
Stay tuned for a more detailed report on the Skyground project.
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