Ever since the Gamestop craze early last year, more and more people have been getting into the investment game.
And because financial advisors don’t come free and none of us like parting with our money, many have turned to online trading platforms to help facilitate these transactions.
They tend to have lower fees, and users can carry out transactions on their phones while on the pooper.
But are they credible and trustworthy? Well, not always.
3 Men Involved in Samtrade FX Arrested
If you’re a user of the online trading platform Samtrade FX, I have some rather unpleasant news for you.
The platform is now being investigated by the Singapore Police Force and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for suspected irregular trading activities.
The alleged offence here, under Singapore’s security laws, seems to be related to a prohibition on individuals carrying on a business in any regulated activity without a capital markets services licence.
And as the police and MAS revealed yesterday (3 Jan) in a news release, Samtrade FX Limited—which operates the trading platform—and its related entities are not licensed by MAS.
What’s more, they have also been on MAS’ Investor Alert List since July last year.
The police and MAS’ investigations led them to three men aged between 31 and 36, who were arrested last Tuesday and Wednesday for their suspected involvement in the alleged offences.
Deal Only With MAS-Regulated Entities
The MAS advised the public to be cautious when dealing with financial products and services and to deal only with entities regulated by MAS.
You can check MAS’ Financial Institutions Directory to ascertain if an entity has a valid licence.
Another list you should check is the MAS’ Investor Alert List, which shows unregulated persons and entities who may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or authorised by MAS.
You can, of course, decide to deal with unregulated entities or people, but this means you won’t have the protection of MAS’ regulations, nor the protection of the police and the MAS.
In other words, that would not be the wisest choice.
Last month, crypto trading platform Binance.sg announced that it would wind down operations and close by 13 Feb this year.
This came after the operator of Binance.sg—Binance Asia Service—withdrew its application to MAS to run a regulated cryptocurrency exchange here.
As a result, all registrations, cryptocurrency, and currency deposits and trading on Binance.sg closed with immediate effect.
Read Also:
- Show Luo’s Return to Stage With a Countdown Party Went Well
- Here Are the Top 3 Sagas in S’pore for the Whole of 2021 Based on Data
Featured Image: Screenshot from Samtrade FX
