In a notice dated 26 March 2021, BaFin ordered the company Fin Toward Ltd. to immediately cease its unauthorised conduct of deposit business and its unauthorised provision of investment advice and portfolio management services.
The company opens trading accounts for customers on its trading platform fin-toward.com. These accounts supposedly allow customers to trade in forex products, cryptocurrencies, indices, commodities, shares, ETFs and bonds. The company makes investment decisions regarding the accounts without consulting the account holders beforehand. It also offers customers the opportunity to enter into contracts, claiming that the contracts are completely insured and that there can be no loss of the capital invested. Furthermore, on its website Fin Toward Ltd. offers comprehensive customer advice.
The company is therefore conducting deposit business within the meaning of section 1 (1) sentence 2 no. 1 of the KWG on a commercial basis, providing investment advice within the meaning of section 1a sentence 2 no. 1a of the KWG and providing portfolio management services within the meaning of section 1 (1a) sentence 2 no. 3 of the KWG. However, it does not hold authorisation from BaFin as required under section 32 (1) of the KWG and is thus conducting unauthorised business.
The website fin-toward.com does not provide legally required information about the operators or individuals responsible for the website content. According to the documents available to BaFin, Fin Toward Ltd. has its registered office in the United Kingdom.
