AFX Capital Review 2023: Is This Broker Scam or Legit?

AFX Capital was once one of the most prominent online CFD and forex brokers, with multiple branches in a wide variety of countries. As of 2019, the company is completely gone. The broker previously held a CySEC license under their Cyprus parent company, AFX Capital Markets Ltd. Both this company and its international counterparts broke down entirely, taking significant trader funds with them.

Warnings From Financial Regulators

AFX Capital was owned by AFX Capital Markets Ltd. Once the company lost their CySEC license in 2019, the first to publish the decision was, of course, CySEC. Afterward, several EU regulators published this same decision to make sure their citizens won’t be scammed in case AFX Capital remains to provide financial services unlicensed. The warnings regarding broker’s status came from the Italian CONSOB, the UK FCA, and Maltesean MFSA.

Trader Opinions

Since AFX Capital was permitted to provide financial services within the EEA zone as a CIF, many clients were damaged by their license suspension. For example, in the UK it was reported that clients lost over 7 million pounds due to AFX Capital collapse. Their own Financial Service Compensation Scheme needed to jump in and try to recover the lost funds. The same thing did Cypriot Investors Compensation Fund that received money claims counting in millions of euros. Not all of the clients were reimbursed and there were a lot of issues. The AFX Capital was first fined by CySEC in 2017 for violating policies, just to be completely suspended in 2019. After all being said, we can conclude that traders do not have such a good opinion nor experience with AFX Capital.

AFX Capital Suspended Under Suspicion of Malpractice

It certainly seems like CySEC, and other regulators, aren’t hard enough on some brokers. Many, like easyMarkets , pay a fine and go on their way. This wasn’t the case for AFX Capital. In July of 2019, CySEC placed a suspension against the broker. Because of this suspension, they had to stop providing financial services of any kind. The broker was also unable to advertise itself as a provider of financial services. This initial suspension came as a response to claims that the broker was mishandling their clients’ money.

Allegations Against the Broker True – Some Traders Left With Nothing

Our AFX Capital review dug a little deeper and found several statements from CySEC to their former clients. Despite the strict rules that CySEC sets for segregation of client funds, AFX Capital had allowed accounts to become mixed and money to be misplaced. The regulator set up a form on their official website for traders with the broker to issue formal complaints. The investigation continued until it was finally clear that significant funds were missing. Because of this, there was not sufficient money to pay out all of the clients in full.

What Trading With AFX Capital Was Like

In addition to their failure to meet standard regulatory requirements, AFX Capital didn’t have much going for it earlier. The spread on the EUR/USD pair was around 2 pips, much too high to be competitive. Traders could choose a commission only account as well, but they were unlikely to make any savings in doing so. Everything else was unremarkable. Trading was through MetaTrader 4, and traders needed $200 to get started.

Get Your Money Back While You Still Can

Brokers can go on for years mishandling funds before regulators eventually catch them. When the hammer comes down, traders often find that they’re the ones left holding the bag. If you believe your broker has been misappropriating your funds, you can contact us today to issue a chargeback immediately. Don’t let an unscrupulous broker hold onto your funds, act now!