Complaints about Australian brokers do not go unnoticed

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), has published the latest data on brokers and all financial derivative suppliers. It turns out that frequent claims of even small traders can be fatal for companies that think about not quite fair earnings. The leader of the ranking no longer has an Australian license.

The summary covers the last half of 2019, i.e. the period from July 2019 to the end of December 2019. The table with the infamous leaders is presented below, but it is clear that the vast majority of complaints concern two companies - KP International Group Australia and Forex Financial Services. Commonwealth Securities Limited was third on the podium.

Until December 31, 2019, KP International had received 245 complaints, and let's remember that the summarized period concerned only six months. Therefore, on average, more than 40 complaints are issued a day, so probably there has not been a day when the regulator did not receive comments regarding the company's operations. The number of complaints about the Forex market services by Forex Financial Services was 162. The third in the list, Commonwealth Securities Limited has "only" 28 complaints, although this should be considered a solid premise to consider carefully whether to choose this broker and entrust him with your money.

Ranking of the number of complaints. Source: AFCA

A lot of complaints? You are losing your license

This time the leader of the ranking of the most controversial broker companies changed, because in the previous reporting period, which covered the time from November 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, the most complaints were about Forex Financial Services. Can you, however, underestimate customer service and bend Australian financial law with impunity? It turns out not. KP International Group Australia, which most people and companies complained about, as of November 22, 2019, lost its Australian license and can no longer provide services in this country, as well as use the opportunities offered by the Australian financial system. Let's add that the loss of license in Australia is practically a wolf ticket, because it is impossible to recover it, and even if the same people apply for it under the banner of a new company, they will not have easy implementation of strict guidelines.

See the full AFCA report

KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd. did not take foreign customers seriously. According to the Australian Financial Complaints Office (AFCA), numerous complaints were coming from people located outside of Australia. Consumers primarily had problems with withdrawing funds from trading accounts. Even after a few prompts, the company did not pay money, so customers sent mass complaints. Only a few could easily withdraw their capital, and the complaints show that it did not matter whether someone made a profit on it or just wanted to save the remainder that they did not lose. As a result, International Group Australia is no longer a member of AFCA.

Forex Financial Services Pty Ltd, which came second with 162 complaints in six months, is struggling to be removed from the list. According to company representatives, the complaints do not concern their activities, but fraudsters impersonating the broker. The case is still under investigation, but there are indications that there may be some truth in this, because websites pretending to be Forex Financial Services have actually been created. ASIC he must now check to see if the complaints were about illegal clones and perhaps review his data.