What Is the FSMA and What Does It Do? 

The Financial Services Markets Authority is an independent organization that is given the authority by the Belgian parliament to regulate financial markets. Any financial company operating in Belgium or who signs up Belgian customers must comply with rules and regulations. The FSMA ensures compliance with these standards and inspects licenses. 

The FSMA also educates the public about financial services and issues warnings about suspicious brokers and companies that violate standards. They act as a watchdog and will publish warnings and red flags about individual brokers. We investigate these brokers and create reviews that are vital tools to keeping your money safe online. 

Why Is the FSMA Warning the Public About These Brokers? 

Licensing Issues

Many of the brokers on this list either aren’t licensed or have questions bout licensing. They may falsely claim they are regulated or may be signing up customers in areas where they have no authority to provide trading or other financial services. 

A number of these brokers may be clones, meaning that they adopt a name and a logo similar to regulated brokers, but instead are trying to fool the public into thinking they are dealing with a licensed broker. 

Misleading Information

Misleading information may be about terms and conditions, fees or guaranteed returns. It may take seemingly innocent forms, such as a broker claiming that they are in the top ten of the world’s leading brokers. However, these exaggerations can be signs of more problematic activities. We don’t usually find that legitimate brokers will make these kinds of exaggerated claims, since they have licenses and credentials to inspire confidence. 

Lack of Transparency

Many of the brokers on this list don’t have any actual names or real contact information connected to them. Instead, their websites may show stock photos of people in suits and false addresses. When you sign up with a broker always verify their identities and addresses with a quick Google search or checking on a regulator’s website. 

Questionable Activities

The FSMA may list brokers as suspected scams if they try to bypass rules and regulations governing financial companies. They could be offering certain trading assets that are not legal in certain areas or may use leverage that exceeds the limits in the region. .

Account Problems

Once customers sign up for an account with a dodgy broker, they will see all kinds of unexpected limits. These restrictions may not be mentioned prior to opening an account, but suddenly the fraudulent broker will tack on a whole list of fees and charges. They may not allow wthdrawals until the client makes a certain amount of money–although they never mange to make this kind of money because no actual trading is taking place. 

Customer Complaints

.The FSMA will add a shady broker to the watch list if there are numerous verified customer complaints. The word “verified” is important, because these claims are checked as credible. This makes these alerts far more reliable that customer review sites, where anyone can say anything about a company, and perhaps may be competitors involved in a smear campaign. 

Have You Lost Money to Any of These Brokers? Talk to Us!

ReportScamOnline experts understand brokers–reliable ones and scam operations. We have researched brokers and have created these reviews to help consumers make the right choice for trading. We recommend that you avoid the scam brokers mentioned here and instead find a reliable and licensed broker. If you have lost money to this broker, contact us and we will launch an investigation that will bolster your claim.