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The dollar was on the defensive on Wednesday, elbowed off a three-week peak by a reversal in U.S. yields as they headed south again ahead of a meeting of central bankers, at which the Federal Reserve is expected to give clues on further rate cuts. Central bankers will gather at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday with markets focused on a scheduled speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. His comments will take center stage especially after last week's inversion of the U.S. yield curve -widely regarded as a recession signal- boosted expectations for the Fed to lower interest rates at its September policy meeting. Faced with rising risks to the U.S. economy, the central bank in July cut rates for the first time since the financial crisis. The dollar index (DXY) had climbed to 98.450 on Tuesday, its highest since Aug. 1, as U.S. yields bounced back from multi-year lows at the week's start on signs global policymakers were ready to step up stimulus support to stave off a steep economic downturn. #dollar #forex #WikiFX #currency

The safe-haven yen and Swiss franc retreated against the dollar on Monday, as risk sentiment gradually improved after a week of turmoil on hopes that major central banks would look to launch fresh stimulus measures to lift their sluggish economies. The Japanese currency fell for a third straight session versus the greenback, while the Swiss unit slid to a two-week low against the dollar. Optimism about government action to avert recession concerns in the United States, which was triggered by last week's inversion in the U.S. bond yield curve, rose in advance of the U.S. Federal Reserve's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, toward the end of the week, where central bankers could announce key measures. #Yen #Swissfranc #WikiFX #Currency #Forex

As the financial market with the most frequent transactions, the Forex market is favored by global investors due to its high efficiency, liquidity and flexibility. However, many illegal brokers also lurk around on this lucrative market, attracting investors with appealing yet misleading advertisement such as“starting trading with only US$5” and “speedy deposit and withdrawal”, or promising investors so-called “bonus” for successfully inviting others to open account at the platform. But behind the attractive “high profits” claimed by brokers, there are often great risks or even traps. As one of the victims suffering such broker scams, Mr. Wang reported GPAK to WikiFX and shared his experience of being defrauded to warn other investors against the illegal Forex broker. 　　 Event recap I opened an account on GPAK in February, 2019 under the recommendation of a friend and made 2 deposits through Alipay. From February to June, I managed to make some profits which added up with the initial deposit to US$3,503.62. I once contacted the customer service in April to withdraw, but was advised to wait, as he claimed my request won't be processed during the May Day holiday. On June 20th, I was informed that my application had been approved. But strangely enough, my trading account showed the application remained in process and I still didnt receive the money a week later. When I tried to log in my GPAK account, I found the website was no longer accessible and the customer service didn't reply any more. Case study First persuade investors to deposit through “acquaintance's recommendation” , and then postpone their withdrawal applications to prepare for escaping, which is an old trick of illegal brokers. In Mr. Wang's case, GPAK first got Mr. Wang to deposit through the marketing strategy of “acquaintance's recommendation” and further lured him into making more investments with attractive profits. When Mr. Wang tried to withdraw, the customer service began to pull up all kinds of excuses such as withdrawal can't be processed during the holiday in order to postpone withdrawal and perhaps win themselves more time for running away. Conclusion According to the information on WikiFX App, the licenses from FCA(UK) and NFA(US) which GPAK claims to hold are suspected to be cloned, while its AR license from FCA(UK) has been revoked. Currently without valid regulatory status, the broker is rated at only 1.93 on the WikiFX App and bears significant risks, please stay away from it.

Broker: AILEN Regulatory status: overrun Complainant: Mr. Jin Cause of complaint: blocking investor’s withdrawal Recently, Mr. Jin reported the illegal forex broker AILEN to WikiFX and shared his experience. Event recap In early June this year, Mr. Jin signed up at AILEN who claimed to be regulated by NFA(US) and started trading. Coaxed by a signal-provider, he made several deposits that added up to over US$400,000 earlier in his investment; yet the large input failed to bring proportional profits, as he lost approximately US$70,000 in trading. Feeling much discouraged, Mr. Jin began to withdraw his money. Having successfully withdrawn US$200,000 through separate applications, Mr. Jin again applied to withdraw US$5,000 on July 27th. But unlike before, the application remained “in progress” for 3 days. Completely disappointed, Mr. Jin decided to withdraw his remaining balance on July 30th, and the application was once again ignored. Mr. Jin tried to contact the signal provider, who offered no solution besides claiming that “he was also a victim", which sounded like a lame excuse. Meanwhile, Mr. Jin also contacted AILEN’s customer service but failed to get any reply. To date, Mr. Jin still has US$16,000 in his account yet to be withdrawn. AILEN has defrauded investor by ignoring withdrawal applications and detaining investor’s capital. Analysis AILEN’s regulatory information is inconsistent with its official website AILEN’s official website claims it holds NFA license with regulatory number 0502205, but upon checking NFA website, the license belongs to a company named ACERICH, which is not in business at the moment. Strangely enough, AILEN’s information can be found on NFA website and its regulatory number is 0520444. Though the reason for this inconsistency is yet unknown, one thing certain is that AILEN’s information on its website doesn’t match the regulatory information. Conclusion WikiFX App shows AILEN holds an NFA(US) license for generic financial services and is currently operating in overrun business. The broker with a WikiFX rating of 1.20 has low credibility, and WikiFX suggests investors to stay away from it.

Broker: MXC Group Date of visit: July 18th, 2019 Conclusion: the broker’s office is not at the registered address On-the-spot investigation According to the regulatory information from LFSA(Labuna Financial Services Authority), the licensed office of MXC Group in Malaysia is at Unit Level 14 (B) & 14 (C), Main Office Tower, Financial Park Labuan Complex, Jalan Merdeka, 87000 Labuan F.T. Recently, WikiFX team visited the forex broker in Malaysia. We saw a beautiful lobby as we arrived at the Financial Park Labuan Complex. But we couldn’t find MXC Group when we reached level 14, as 14(B)&(C) which was supposed to be the broker’s office turned out to Regus Management instead. The company staff told us that although MXC Group registered with this address, the broker’s office wasn’t here, nor did its employees work in the building. Analysis Lately, WikiFX received several calls from investors, reporting certain Malaysian brokers whose physical addresses didn’t match their regulatory information. As Malaysia’s capital, the fast-growing Kuala Lumpur is becoming another financial hub in Southeast Asia besides Singapore, and the local forex industry has consequently experienced dynamic development. However, such a rapid expansion led to many quality issues. Some Malaysian brokers are exploiting regulation loopholes, holding LFSA licenses while their real conditions, such as office addresses, failed to match regulatory information. The situation has left many investors confused and doubtful. Started in forex brokerage in 2015, MXC Group received LFSA’s STP license in 2017. The broker currently focuses on forex brokerage and CFD trading. Despite its self-claimed highlights on the official website, MXC Group has been poorly rated by investors. The broker’s website and regulatory information both showed the same office address, but WikiFX found through investigation that the alleged location belongs to another company’s office instead, and MXC Group is under a “cloned” address. The visit reveals a tendency of Malaysian forex industry to pursuit instant success and benefits in their development, as well as the forex regulation deficiency of the country. Having just successfully concluded a finance exhibition in Kuala Lumpur this July, WikiFX hopes that such events will not only establish a knowledge sharing and business exchange platform for investors, but also promote the steady and sound development of Malaysian forex industry. Conclusion According to the WikiFX App, MXC Group is currently under regulation, holding an STP license issued by LFSA one year ago. The broker, rated at 1.93 on WikiFX App, is suspected of operating in overrun business. WikiFX reminds investors to avoid choosing such low rated brokers for the safety of your assets.

Broker: TF GLOBL Regulatory status: unregulated Complainant: Mr. Lv Cause of complaint: withdrawal failure The lucrative forex market has drawn a growing number of brokers to this industry, yet it’s not easy to become a forex broker because the regulatory license is usually difficult and costly to obtain. Statistic shows that 90% of forex brokers started out without a proper license. Unlicensed brokers have no protection for investors’ assets, so choosing such brokers suggests high risks in investment. Recently, Mr. Lv reported unlicensed forex broker TF GLOBL to WikiFX and shared his experience of being defrauded. Event recap In early June, Mr. Lv opened an account and deposited at TF GLOBL after seeing its advertisement online, making some profits at first with his trading strategies. He was able to deposit normally and received the money withdrawn twice. Therefore, he continued depositing and trading on the platform. On July 3rd, he again applied to withdraw and the system showed his application had been approved. But unlike the previous applications, he didn’t receive the money this time, while the customer service didn’t offer much helpful information when Mr. Lv contacted them. Later Mr. Lv made more inquires about the matter near the deadline of refund, but received no reply from the customer service. Till now, Mr. Lv still has balance yet unavailable to be withdrawn. WikiFX: Be careful about online advertisements and risky brokers without proper licence. As per Mr. Lv’s case, Investors should watch our for online advertisements and unlicensed brokers. 1. With the rapid development of the internet, online advertisements enable more brokers to promote themselves and expand their market shares. WikiFX’s monthly list of largest ad-spending brokers shows that besides many credible high-rating brokers, illegal brokers are also spending much on marketing. Although the forex market environment is improving overall, some illegal brokers are still trying to attract investors by stepping up their marketing efforts. So investors should never take the words of brokers’ online advertisements completely without doing your own research about their credibility. Failed to fully inspect the broker by checking various sources, Mr. Lv was fooled by the misleading advertisement of TF GLOBL and fell into its trap. 2. Unlicensed brokers are unable to provide even the basic protection for investor’s assets, not to mention offering satisfactory trading experience. TF GLOBL currently has no valid regulatory status, nor does it hold license from any authorities. The unreliable broker was rated at 1.12 only on the WikiFX App, and investors should definitely avoid choosing such unlicensed brokers as they bear high risks. Conclusion The mix of credible and illegal brokers on the forex market requires investors to carefully verify the accuracy of brokers’ information through multiple channels. WikiFX strives to help investors obtain reliable and comprehensive information of brokers. More information about them is available on the WikiFX App or website.

As the financial market with the most frequent transactions, forex market has been the first choice of global investors due to its high efficiency, flexibility and liquidity. However, many illegal brokers also lurk around this lucrative market like vipers and attack unwary investors. The following story is shared by Ms. Zeng, an investor who sought WikiFX’s help after being defrauded by forex broker MAREX. She reported the illegal broker to warn other investors against it. Complainant: Ms. Zeng Broker: MAREX Broker’s website: www.marexforex.com Time of deposit: June 14th, 17th and 18th Account balance: US$15,000 Withdrawal status: pending Customer service: out of reach Website status: unavailable Event recap I got to know Meng Qiuchen through a friend on Wechat. This self-claimed “stock-trading expert” approached me and offered to give me investment tips, and I was persuaded to friend her on QQ. At first, she enthusiastically taught me the basics of stock market and would recommend some prospective stocks occasionally. Later she told me that the stock market is highly volatile recently while the forex market is very lucrative, so I took her advice, opened an account at MAREX and made several deposits. But to my frustration, the customer dodged my request when I applied to withdraw and soon blacklisted me. The “expert” Meng also seemed to “disappear”, while my deposit in the account remain unavailable with my withdrawal application pending. Later I learned that my friend who allowed Meng to advertise on his WeChat Moments didn’t know the person at all. Case analysis In Ms. Zeng’s story, it’s clear how the sly MAREX lured her into its sophisticated traps. First, it sent the “investment expert” Meng to hunt for potential victims by showing success investment records on social media and offering investors free trading tips and stock recommendation. When Ms. Zeng took the bait and eventually became friends with Meng, the latter again manipulated her by offering misleading market trends and investment suggestions, winning Ms. Zeng’s trust and successfully coaxed her into making deposit at MAREX. The unscrupulous broker then swallowed up investor’s deposit with its vicious traps and escaped, leaving her in heavy loss. Case Summary With the proliferation of internet users and smart phones, illegal brokers also see more opportunities for their concealed and more sophisticated traps. Investors need to beware of the dangerous broker MAREX and draw the following lessons from Ms. Zeng’s experience: 1 As is always said, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the excessive, somewhat unjustified kindness from so-called “experts” only intended to make investors drop their guard and fall into carefully-devised traps. Investors need to carefully choose investment type that suits their own conditions. 2 “100% profit guaranteed” is unrealistic, as the forex market is highly volatile and chance of profit always accompanies with risk of loss. Such claims of “high return”, “100% profit guaranteed” and “zero risk” are simply misleading advertisement that brokers fool investors with. So investors need to keep rational and avoid being tempted by such “high profits”. 3 the self-claimed stock/forex experts on social media such as WeChat and QQ are in fact swindlers who trick inexperienced investors with their shallow knowledge in this field. Investors need to stay alert to these so-called “experts” and keep away from the brokers they recommend, as these are likely illegal brokers using white-label software and having tremendous risks. Conclusion WikiFX summarizes the scams of MAREX in 4 stages: First, approaches investor with the excuse of “stock recommendation”; next, persuades investor to open account and trade forex; then, manipulates at backstage and causes investor great loss; finally, blacklists the investor and escapes. Currently, MAREX trading platform is unavailable to access and their customer service is out of contact, which leaves investor unable to withdraw. If you wish to learn more about how to chose a reliable broker, avoid the pitfalls of illegal brokers and defend your rights against broker scams, or you are interest in other reports on illegal brokers, please check WikiFX’s official website at www.wikifx.com. To report illegal broker, please contact WikiFX at wikifx@wikifx.com. We strive to make a safer and greener investment environment by disclosing the illegal brokers that you reported.