Samtrade FX, an overseas online trading platform, is being investigated by the Singapore authorities for potential offences under local securities laws that require a capital markets services (CMS) licence for regulated activity.
Three men, aged between 31 and 36, were arrested last week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force announced in a press release on Monday.
“There is reason to suspect that irregular trading activities have been carried out on the platform and investigations are being carried out on these activities,” said MAS and CAD, which jointly launched the probe on 28 December.
Samtrade FX, which runs the trading platform, and its related entities are not licensed by MAS and have been on MAS’s Investor Alert List since July 2021.
The potential offences that Samtrade FX and its related entities are being investigated for fall under Section 82 of the Securities and Futures Act, which prohibit any person from carrying on a business in any regulated activity without a capital markets services licence.
Samtrade FX is run by a company of the same name registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Its Singapore entities – Samtrade FX LLP and Samtrade FX (SG) Pte Ltd – are also under investigation.
In a joint statement, the police and MAS advised the public to exercise caution when dealing with financial products and services and to deal only with people regulated by MAS.
They can verify if an entity has a valid licence by checking MAS’s Financial Institutions Directory and its Investor Alert List, which is a record of unregulated persons and entities who, based on information received by MAS, may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or authorised by MAS.
