In June 2023, FinTelegram published the initial review of the CAPEX broker scheme, part of the Key Way Group of the Romanian Octavian Patrascu. The multi-asset broker CAPEX is operated via the CySEC-regulated Key Way Investments Ltd and some offshore entities such as KW Investments Limited in Seychelles, Key Way Markets Ltd in UAE, or JME Financial Services (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. Here is the updated review.
Latest Updates
CAPEX is a brand of the Key Way Group, which is also active as KeyWay Investments and ClickTrades. Analysis of the latest Similarweb data shows that CAPEX currently receives visitors mainly from the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. From there, 33% and more than 18% of the more than 458.000 website visitors came in the 28 days before June 30, 2023, respectively (see screenshot on the left).
In the three months between March and May 2023, CAPEX saw a surge in its visitor numbers. From around 226,000, there was an increase in visitor numbers to over 406,000. This growth is likely to have been driven primarily by visitors from UEA.
Key Data
| Trading names | Capex Capex.com |
| Related brands | clicktrades Keyway Investments |
| Domains | https://capex.com/eu https://capex.com/en https://keywayinvestments.com https://www.keywayinvestments.ro |
| Social media | LinkedIn, Facebook |
| Trustpilot | 3.6-star rating with an “Average” trust level |
| Legal entities | Key Way Group Ltd, Gibraltar Key Way Investments Ltd, Cyprus KW Investments Ltd, Seychelles JME Financial Services (Pty) Ltd, South Africa Key Way Markets Ltd, Abu Dhabi |
| Jurisdictions | Cyprus, Seychelles |
| Regulators | CySEC for Key Way Investments Ltd with license no 292/16 CNMV, ASF Romania for Key Way Investments Ltd FSA Seychelles for KW Investments Ltd FSCA for JME Financial Services (Pty) Ltd ADGM for Key Way Markets Ltd |
| Leverage | up to 1:30 for EEA up to 1:300 offshore |
| Payment options | Bank wire, alternative payments e-wallet, crypto |
| Payment providers | Unicredit Bank AG (via Payabl.cy Ltd d/b/a payabl) Astrobank Public Company Ltd Spectrum Payment Services Ltd Clearbank ABSA Bank PayPal, Rapid, Skrill Perfect Money B2BinPay |
| Related individuals | Octavian Patrascu Constantin Patrascu Anghel Ciprian Mircea Ursache Madalina Rotaru |
| Compliance rating | Orange |
Compliance Check
CAPEX or its operating entities are regulated not only in Romania and Cyprus, but also in some offshore destinations such as South Africa, UAE and Seychelles.
In our review on July 3, 2023, we registered as an EEA resident via the offshore mutation of CAPEX (Capex.com/en) but were then redirected to the CySEC-regulated CAPEX (CAPEX.com/eu). Pre-KYC deposits are no longer possible there. At our initial review in June 2022, pre-KYC deposits were still possible at offshore mutation.
We took a closer look at the two brokers and found in our initial review on 14 June 2022 that Capex violates the ESMA and CySEC regulations by accepting pre-KYC deposits in theoretically unlimited amounts via bank wire.
Initial review by FinTelegram (link)
In this respect, our review has apparently brought about a positive change. In 2020, Key Way Group settled with CySEC and paid €120.00 for possible regulatory violations. This shows how important the compliance checks by FinTelegram are.
However, new clients who register with an address in an EEA country but specify a non-EEA country in the “Resident” box in the drop-down list can still make pre-KYC deposits through CAPEX‘s bank accounts (Clearbank, ABSA Bank, Spectrum Payment Services) or through Crypto and the Russian Perfect Money.
The offshore mutation of CAPEX has not implemented a hard block for EEA residents and makes no checks. So if a new client gives (has) an address in Berlin or London with a corresponding phone number in these countries but identifies as a Serbia resident, for example, she will be accepted as a non-EEA citizen and thus can make unlimited pre-KYC deposits.
With this in mind, we put CAPEX on our “Orange Compliance” list. Hard blocking of offshore mutation for EEA residents would be easy to implement and prevent possible circumventions.
Share Information
If you have any information about Key Way Group, its brokers Capex or clicktrades, or the acting persons and partners, please share it with us via our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
