Based on the contents of the website fxtoro.de and on information and documents available to BaFin, there are grounds to suspect that the platform is being used to conduct banking business and/or to provide financial services in Germany without the required authorisation. The website contains references to licenses of foreign financial market supervisory authorities, which have been allegedly granted to the company. However, each of the licenses in question were granted to members of the eToro group. Furthermore, passages from the website of eToro (Europe) Ltd. have been unlawfully copied into the fxtoro.de website. This is thus a case of identity theft committed against eToro (Europe) Ltd. and the eToro Group. eToro (Europe) Ltd., Limassol, Cyprus, is authorised to provide investment services in accordance with section 74 of the WpIG and is supervised by BaFin.

Companies that conduct banking business, provide financial services, investment services or ancillary investment services in Germany require authorisation under the KWG or the WpIG. However, some companies operate without the necessary authorisation. Information on whether a particular company has been granted authorisation by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.

BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to avoid becoming the victim of fraud.