Tag: Volt

Volt, a KNF-licensed open-banking provider backed by top-tier investors appears in recorded deposit flows for illegal offshore casinos targeting users in Germany. FinTelegram’s review shows Volt’s checkout embedded in payment journeys routed through crypto-linked intermediaries, raising hard questions about merchant due diligence, payment blocking under German gambling law, and the compliance perimeter for regulated PISPs.

While the main website of the Betify online casino, Betify.com, states Altacore N.V. has a Curacao license as an operator, various other Betify websites do not provide any information about the operators. Costa Rica is stated as the jurisdiction responsible for the terms and conditions. In our reviews at the beginning of August 2024, we discovered the Cyprus-registered Altaprime Limited as the payment processor for anonymous and illegal casino activities.

As part of our analysis of payment facilitators in the high-risk segment of online casinos and gambling providers, we have already reported on the Curacao licensed provider NewEra. Like many other offshore casinos, it also operates via a payment agent in Cyprus. One of the payment facilitators for the NewEra casinos is the FinTech unicorn Revolut, through which players from jurisdictions in which NewEra does not have a license can make deposits.

The NewEra Group is another online casino and gambling operator that operates with a license in Curacao and a payment agent in Cyprus. Although NewEra does not have a license in Europe or North America, it attracts customers and their deposits from these regulatory regimes. Revolut, Binance Pay and MiFinity appear to be the most important payment facilitators. Binance Pay is offered at all NewEra casinos.

Below is the letter from the UK lawyers of the FCA-regulated payment institution Volt. FinTelegram has mentioned that Volt (and many others) acts as a payment processor for online casinos and gambling. According to the UK law firm Simmons & Simmons, this is defamatory. Volt would only provide the technical infrastructure and, therefore, have no KYC/AML obligation. This is an interesting perspective that the FCA should look into. Here is the letter from the lawyers.

FinTelegram recently received legal correspondence from the lawyers of the FCA-regulated payment institution Volt concerning an article that identifies Volt as a payment processor for online casinos and gambling platforms. In their letter dated February 1, 2024, Volt's legal team disputed the claims made in the article, labeling them as false information, and requested the removal of Volt's name from the publication. Furthermore, they have threatened legal action.

LegacyFX is one of the CySEC-regulated CIFs that works with offshore mutations to solicit European clients. Their offshore broker is AN All New Investments (VA) Ltd in Vanuatu. However, all card transactions of this offshore broker are processed by the CySEC-regulated entity. Durch Courts sentenced LegacyFX on May 17, 2023, to pay €303,000 to an investor, the Dutch lawyer Marius Hupkes reports on his website.

Skilling Ltd, a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) regulated by CySEC, is doing business as Skilling. The broker scheme also offers offshore onboarding to EEA residents outside of ESMA and CySEC rules. This is done through Skilling (Seychelles) Ltd, with whom clients then enter into a Client Agreement. More than 70% of the website visitors are from Sweden. EEA consumers should be cautious with offshore Skilling as any investor compensation scheme or ombudsman does not protect them.

Offshore onboarding to circumvent ESMA and FCA guidelines is still a big issue for European regulators. Especially CySEC has had a problem with this approach for years, as FinTelegram has pointed out repeatedly. A.N. All News Investments Ltd d/b/a LegacyFX is one of those CySEC-regulated CIFs that works with offshore mutations to solicit clients in Europe. AN All New Investments (VA) Ltd in Vanuatu is their offshore broker. However, all card transactions of this offshore broker are processed by the CySEC-regulated entity. Here is an update!

Offshore onboarding to circumvent ESMA and FCA guidelines is still a big issue for European regulators. Especially CySEC has had a problem with this approach for years, as FinTelegram has pointed out repeatedly. Most recently, in a new review of CYSEC-regulated FXORO, we found that the CIF continues with offshore onboarding of European retail investors systematically in violation of regulatory requirements, as does LegacyFX.

Today, in the course of our daily reviews of active scam campaigns, we found that the 1k Daily Profit campaign is promoting CySEC-regulated 1Market (www.1market.com) today. Exelcius Prime Ltd operates this broker with license 366/18. In our review, parallel to registering with the 1k Daily Profit scam campaign, we were also registered as a customer of 1Market and redirected directly to the broker's payment page. There we were able to make large deposits without confirming our email, let alone proper onboarding.

LegacyFX broker operates with two mutations. The "European Mutation" is operated by A.N. Allnews Investments Ltd, an investment firm regulated by CySEC. Then there is the "International Mutation," operated by AN All News Investments Ltd regulated offshore by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC). While not allowed to do so, the "International Mutation" actively addresses European investors and accepts happily accepts them and their money.