Three-quarters of unauthorised ‘bedroom traders’ are still operating

More than three-quarters of unauthorised ‘bedroom traders’ are still operating on social media, despite warnings from the financial watchdog.

Money Mail last week revealed how some Instagram stars are persuading naive investors to join unregulated trading groups by flaunting their lavish lifestyles online.

Influencers claim to have made millions by trading foreign currency and urge followers to sign up to expensive courses.

Those who do are told how the trader is supposedly betting on foreign exchange fluctuations, known as forex. These trading templates are known as ‘signals’.

It is illegal to provide trading signals on regulated products without authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and investors have lost thousands of pounds to these so-called ‘forex traders’.

The regulator has added 21 forex or cryptocurrency traders operating on social media to its warning list since the start of the year, but 16 remain active, say wealth management firm Quilter.

Trader Sulayman Ahmed, 22, from Manchester, was added to the FCA’s warning list in June, but continues to advertise his services on Instagram. 

He runs website retireyoungfx.com, which is still live and says investors can expect returns of between 8 and 20 per cent every month.

The FCA’s warning page on Retire Young FX, says: ‘We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation.’

The trader was asked for a comment on the situation.

In total, 79 per cent of all unauthorised brokers and traders on the FCA warning list remain active, according to Quilter. 

The FCA cannot take any enforcement action against firms or individuals it doesn’t regulate.

Pressure is now mounting to include unregulated forex schemes in its Online Harms Bill, which could be tabled in Parliament later this year.

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