The Spanish Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) has just added eight new entities to its warning list. As the regulator reports, their activity in the field of FX/CFD services and crypto services provided to retail clients is not authorized, and, therefore, may be dangerous.

Moreover, the list includes an entity whose name is deceptively similar to the popular social trading brand eToro.

CNMV Warns against ExpToro and Eight Other Entities

On 13 November 2023, CNMV’s warning list due to the lack of appropriate licenses included Easy to Invest, El Comercio IX, Etora Grand, Pivotal Coin Net, Thor FX, Tools4Deals, Xifra Global, and ExpToro.

The latter’s name is strikingly similar to eToro, a popular company in the retail trading sector. Thus, ExpToro could be classified among the clone firms that use similar names and visual identification to trusted and popular platforms to confuse investors and attract them to their services.

#CNMV releases new warnings, and one entity looks similar to @eToro. Beware the potential #clone! pic.twitter.com/zfF8oNrP7i

— Damian Chmiel (@ChmielDk) November 13, 2023

“According to CNMV records, these institutions are not registered in the corresponding registry of this Commission and, therefore, are not authorized to provide investment services or other activities subject to the CNMV’s supervision,” the Spanish regulator warned.

This is another clone that CNMV has warned about over the past month. Previously, the warning list included Bits Panda, which was impersonating the cryptocurrency platform Bitpanda. Also, Last week, the regulator added four FX/CFD market entities to its warning list.

CNMV Strengthens CFD Rules

Finance Magnates earlier disclosed that the CNMV is on track to implement stricter rules for the marketing, distribution, and sale of CFDs. These regulations, which came into force on 20 July, received the label “justified and proportionate” from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which announced the update.

The initial part of the newly imposed restrictions continues the trajectory set by the CNMV’s 2019 regulations and those established by ESMA in 2018. It explicitly outlaws promotional activities and tactics targeting retail clients or the wider public. This covers the utilization of sales representatives, call centers, or software providers for investor recruitment.

XTB, the online investment service, has acknowledged that the broader limitations enforced by Spain’s securities watchdog have exerted a “minor” influence on its business operations. The Polish broker, offering multiple financial products, remarked that introducing these regulations has not induced “any notable shifts” in the pace of acquiring new clients. However, the company’s stock did respond with a dip to a four-month low.

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