The offshore broker FP Markets is operated through FP Markets LLC, registered in St. Vincent & The Grenadines and related to the CySEC-regulated broker of the same name. The only discernible difference between the CySEC-regulated and the unregulated offshore broker is the domain. The offshore mutation of FP Markets was recommended to us via Daily Forex. The KYC at onboarding does not comply with ESMA requirements. We have added FP Markets to our Orange Compliance list.
Key Data FP Markets
| Trading names | FP Markets |
| Business activity | Global multi-asset brokerage scheme |
| Domains | www.fpmarkets.eu www.fpmarkets.com |
| Social media | |
| Legal entity | First Prudential Markets Limited, Cyprus First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd, Australia FP Markets (Pty) Ltd, South Africa FP Markets LLC, SVG First Prudential Markets Ltd, Seychelles FP Markets Ltd, Mauritius |
| Jurisdiction | SVG, Cyprus, Australia |
| Leverage | up to 1:500 |
| Authorization | CySEC license for First Prudential Markets Ltd ASIC, FSA, FSCA, FSC |
| Related individuals | Matt Murphie (LinkedIn) |
| Contact data | [email protected] [email protected] +357 25 056926 +44 28 2544 7780 |
| Payment options | Credit/debit card, e-wallets, crypto |
| Payment processors | Praxis IBS Lithuania Westpac Banking Corporation Neteller, Skrill, Rapid finrax, LetKnowPay |
| Trustpilot | 4.9-star rating with an “Excellent” trust level |
| Compliance rating | Orange |
The FP Markets Narrative
FP Markets is an online Forex and CFD provider that was founded in Australia in 2005 and holds licenses from ASIC, CySEC, FSA, FSCA, and FSC licenses.
An analysis of the websites via Similarweb shows that the offshore mutation of FP Markets recorded almost 2 million visitors in the three months between June and August 2023. In contrast, the CySEC-regulated website recorded only a fraction of that, with just under 115,000 visitors. This is a typical pattern when clients are systematically redirected to offshore brokers, thus circumventing ESMA and CySEC regulations.
In fact, Similarweb analysis shows that the offshore website is also frequently frequented by EEA residents. Among the top 5 countries are Spain and Italy.
Compliance Check
As usual, when regulated ESMA brokers operate an offshore mutation, there is no visually discernible difference. It was easy for us as EEA residents to register with FP Markets offshore mutation (fpmarkets.com). The EEA jurisdictions and country-specific legal requirements were already included in the onboarding procedure in the system.
The FP Markets system noticed via the IP address that we come from an EEA jurisdiction and subsequently recommended that we register via the CySEC-regulated entity. However, we could also perform the onboarding via a short confirmation at the offshore mutation without any problems.
The offshore mutation of FP Markets also offers EEA residents a maximum leverage of 1:500, although, in the regulatory regime of ESMA, a maximum of 1:30 is allowed for retail investors.
After registration, a pry-KYC deposit was possible without verification of our ID or address. Using SEPA bank transfer to IBS Lithuania or SWIFT transfer to the Australian Westpac Banking Corporation, theoretically, even an unlimited deposit would be possible. An unlimited pre-KYC deposit would also have been possible via crypto. As a payment gateway, FT Markets deploys Praxis.
Due to not being authorized to offer financial products in the EEA regions and not taking measures to prevent the onboarding of EEA residents, as well as allowing unlimited pre-KYC deposits, we put FP Markets schemes on our Orange Compliance list.
Share Information
If you have any information about FP Markets, its operators, activities, and partners, please share it through our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
