The French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) has taken a significant step in safeguarding investors by adding 35 new unregulated entities to its warning list.
These entities have been offering derivative instruments related to Forex and cryptocurrencies without the required authorization, posing a risk to unsuspecting investors.
This update by the AMF represents one of the largest in recent memory.
To provide context, in the entirety of 2023, the AMF added 66 unauthorized entities from the Forex market and 11 from the cryptocurrency market.
However, this latest update alone accounts for almost half of the total activity observed last year. The last substantial update occurred in September, when over 20 entities were added to the warning list.
Among the entities that the AMF has warned against are activefinancial.trade, akselinvest.pro, algo-management.co, baccocapital.pro, brown-fin.com, and byou360invest.com in the Forex market.
In the cryptocurrency sector, the list includes aeexc.lat, bitecx.com, bitoasis.ai, cybercapital.ltd, elitetrader.io, and others.
In a bid to enhance the protection of retail traders, the AMF has also issued a guide for financial professionals.
This guide includes standardized commission terminology, part of a broader initiative to provide educational resources and tools that empower retail investors to understand the costs associated with trading and financial products.
Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, the AMF Chairwoman, emphasized, “Investor protection is our top priority. Clear, detailed, and accurate information on fees is essential for investors to make informed choices, particularly in a context of inflation.
We encourage professionals to use this glossary, representing a real step forward for retail investors.”
A recent survey conducted by the AMF revealed that more than half of French retail investors find it challenging to evaluate the impact of fees on their investment returns.
This misunderstanding is a significant concern for the regulator since fees can significantly affect investment outcomes.
Furthermore, the AMF’s investigation identified inconsistencies in fee information presentation across different asset classes, adding complexity to investors’ decision-making processes.
Notably, France has witnessed a surge in individual investor participation, with over 1.5 million active investors in the country’s stock markets in 2022.
Although this marked a slight decrease from the previous year, it still represented an improvement from 2020.
Significantly, the market saw the entry of nearly 195,000 new investors last year, highlighting the growing interest in investing among the French public.