FXPRIMUS Bank Negara

Forex trading is perfectly legal in western countries such as United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. In the UK, forex trading is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). An example of forex brokers regulated under FSA are FXCM UK and Alpari.

In Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) regulates the financial system in Malaysia. So banks, money changers, and finance-related companies must be registered and license under BNM. Forex trading also comes under the jurisdiction of BNM.

I get lots of questions about whether forex trading is legal in Malaysia. I am not a lawyer and I don’t represent BNM or FXPRIMUS. The information given in this blog is solely my opinion based on what I observe and understand about forex trading in Malaysia. Take all I have to say with a grain of salt. Ultimately, the decision to trade or not to trade is yours only. Use proper judgement.

BNM has released a list of companies and websites which are neither authorised nor approved under the relevant laws and regulations administered by BNM. Here’s the latest list as of May 2013.

There are a few things I want to highlight here. First, FXPRIMUS is not on this list along with other US, UK and Australia regulated forex brokers such as FXCM, Alpari and IBFX. Second, Liberty Reserve and several well-known “foreign” forex brokers are on the list.

Liberty Reserve apparently is currently involved in a  money laundering scandal with US Government. You can read the news here. BNM was wise to put them on the list of websites to be careful with. It is obvious now that BNM was given an early tip-off by their counterparts from the US regarding the dubious activities of Liberty Reserve.

Please read below the email I received from the president of FXPRIMUS, Terry Thompson last year regarding the Bank Negara fiasco in 2012. I received the email because I’m a subscriber to FXPRIMUS.

 

FXPRIMUS Officially Removed from BNM List

Dear —,

As you may already know, FXPRIMUS appeared in a consumer alert document issued by Bank Negara Malaysia in July of this year. Since FXPRIMUS has no physical office or presence in Malaysia, and because we don’t offer our trading platform in local currency, this notification came as quite a surprise.

As soon as I became aware of the situation, I directed our team to query BNM to find the exact cause and to find out what steps were needed to clear our good name.

Fortunately, after working diligently with the fine staff at BNM, I’m proud to report that there was 100% no wrongdoing found.

As a result, BNM have removed our name from the list. You can view the updated list using the following link:
http://www.bnm.gov.my/documents/2012/20121129_FCA_en.pdf (Note from admin: Click here for the updated list)

Fortunately, due to our reputation as being honest and transparent we were able to retain well over 99% of our clients despite this incident. However, it is my intention to regain that lost 1% as we value each and every client and would love to regain your business.

If you left FXPRIMUS as a result of this incident and would like to return, we will be happy to reimburse you any costs of transferring funds from another broker back to FXPRIMUS or any banking charges you may incur in funding your account during the entire month of December.

Thank you very much for your continued support and we look forward to serving you well into the future.

Warmest regards,

Terry Thompson
President, FXPRIMUS

 

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