Erscheinung:30.10.2023 | Topic Unauthorised business, Consumer protection nltrade.io: BaFin investigates website operator
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) warns consumers about the website nltrade.io. According to information available to BaFin, the operator is conducting banking business and providing financial and investment services on this website without the required authorisation.
The operator of the website refers to itself using the name “NL Trade” or “NL Trading”, and there is no information regarding its legal form. The website also contains no legal notice or information regarding the operator’s registered office or business address. The legal documents available on the website refer to Estonian law and the law of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Notably, all legal documents on the website list “Mainrow” as the operator rather than “NL Trade” or “NL Trading”. According to information available to BaFin, the now inactive website mainrow.co was copied and transferred in its entirety to nltrade.io.
Anyone conducting banking business or providing financial or investment services in Germany may do so only with authorisation from BaFin. However, some companies offer these services without the required authorisation. Information on whether a particular company has been granted authorisation by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.
The information provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG).
Please be aware:
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 identify fraud attempts at an early stage.
