Exness

A summary of what happened?

Exness is a global forex and CFD broker established in 2008, offering a range of trading services across various account types and platforms. While it has grown significantly, certain concerns and complaints have been noted:

Regulatory Limitations:

• Restricted Access for Retail Clients: Exness’s entities regulated in the U.K. and Cyprus, which are Tier-1 jurisdictions, do not accept retail clients. This means non-institutional traders are directed to its offshore entities in the Caribbean and Africa, which may offer less stringent regulatory oversight.
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Limited Range of Tradable Instruments:

• Narrow Product Offering: Exness provides a relatively limited selection of tradable CFD symbols, with a focus primarily on currency pairs. This limited range may not meet the needs of traders seeking a broader spectrum of investment options.
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Account and Trading Conditions:

• Higher Spreads on Standard Cent Accounts: The Standard Cent account, designed for beginners, features higher spreads compared to other account types and is limited to forex and metals, potentially affecting trading costs and flexibility.
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• Social Trading Minimums: The platform requires a minimum of $500 to copy a strategy provider and $2,000 to become a strategy provider in its social trading feature, which may be a barrier for some traders.
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Customer Feedback:

• Negative Reviews: Exness has received a 1.0-star rating from 8 reviews on ComplaintsBoard, indicating dissatisfaction among some traders regarding the platform and services.
  Complaints Board

Educational Content:

• Perceived Promotional Material: Some of Exness’s educational resources have been viewed as promotional, despite their quality and usefulness for beginners, which may affect the perceived objectivity of the content.
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While Exness offers competitive trading conditions and a user-friendly platform, potential clients should consider these concerns and conduct thorough due diligence to ensure the broker aligns with their trading needs and regulatory preferences.

Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)

Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.

What was Exness trying to hide?

Exness‘s attempts to hide unfavourable content through the misuse of copyright notices while allegedly engaging in perjury present serious legal concerns. These actions suggest a calculated attempt to manipulate legal systems to suppress free speech, a fundamental violation of copyright law principles and an abuse of legal processes. The use of such tactics not only undermines the integrity of copyright protection but also potentially constitutes perjury, further entangling Exness in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Exness may be trying to remove from the internet –

Investigative Report: Concerns and Allegations Surrounding Exness

Introduction

Exness is a global forex and CFD broker founded in 2008, catering to traders worldwide with a variety of account types, trading platforms, and instruments. While the broker has established itself as a competitive player in the forex market, several concerns and complaints have emerged over the years. This report delves into the key issues, allegations, and criticisms leveled against Exness to provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges it faces.

Section 1: Regulatory Oversight and Compliance Issues

Limited Access to Tier-1 Regulatory Protections

Exness operates under multiple regulatory frameworks, including Tier-1 authorities such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). However, these entities do not cater to retail clients. Instead, retail traders are directed to Exness’s offshore entities in jurisdictions like Seychelles and the British Virgin Islands.

• Concerns Raised:
  • Weaker Oversight: Offshore regulators are often criticized for providing less stringent oversight, potentially exposing clients to higher risks.
  • Transparency Issues: Clients trading under offshore entities may lack access to robust dispute resolution mechanisms and protections typically offered by Tier-1 regulators.

Implications for Retail Clients

The bifurcated regulatory approach has led to skepticism among traders, particularly those who prioritize regulatory protections. Critics argue that steering retail traders to offshore entities while maintaining Tier-1 licenses creates a false sense of security.

Section 2: Trading Conditions and Account Limitations

Higher Spreads for Standard Cent Accounts

Exness’s Standard Cent account, which is marketed toward beginners, offers higher spreads compared to its other account types. Additionally, this account only supports forex and metals trading, limiting its appeal to traders seeking diversified exposure.

• Impact on Traders:
  • Beginners are often drawn to cent accounts due to lower financial risks, but higher spreads may erode profits.
  • The limited range of instruments in Standard Cent accounts restricts opportunities for portfolio diversification.

Concerns with Social Trading

Exness’s social trading platform, which allows traders to copy strategies, has faced criticism for its minimum deposit requirements:

• Barrier to Entry: Copying a strategy requires a minimum of $500, while becoming a strategy provider necessitates a $2,000 deposit. These thresholds may exclude smaller traders from participating.

Section 3: Complaints and Negative Feedback

Customer Complaints

Exness has garnered mixed reviews on online complaint forums, with some traders expressing dissatisfaction over various issues:

• Account Restrictions: Users have reported sudden account restrictions and challenges in accessing their funds, raising concerns about the broker’s operational transparency.
• Delayed Withdrawals: Complaints about delayed or denied withdrawals are a recurring theme, though the broker attributes such delays to verification procedures.
• Platform Stability: Some users have cited platform downtime during volatile market conditions, which can lead to missed trading opportunities and financial losses.

Negative Reviews on ComplaintsBoard

Exness has received a 1.0-star rating from 8 reviews on ComplaintsBoard, a platform where users share grievances about products and services. Common issues highlighted include:

• Poor customer service.
• Inadequate resolution of disputes.
• Challenges in withdrawing funds.

Section 4: Educational Resources and Transparency

Promotional Tone in Educational Content

While Exness provides educational resources aimed at beginners, critics argue that much of the material serves as promotional content rather than objective, in-depth guidance for traders.

• Concerns Raised:
  • The educational content is perceived as overly simplistic and lacking depth for advanced traders.
  • Promotional undertones in educational materials could mislead new traders about the risks associated with forex and CFD trading.

Transparency in Operations

Transparency issues have been a recurring theme in negative feedback about Exness. Questions have been raised about:

• Hidden Fees: Some users report unexpected charges or fees that were not clearly disclosed during account setup.
• Order Execution: Concerns about execution speed and slippage during high volatility periods, which can significantly affect trading outcomes.

Section 5: Allegations and Industry Criticism

Allegations of Favoring Offshore Operations

Industry critics argue that Exness’s regulatory strategy reflects a broader industry trend where brokers use Tier-1 licenses to gain credibility but channel most retail activity through offshore entities.

• Implications for Clients:
  • This approach allows brokers to offer higher leverage and looser trading conditions, which attract inexperienced traders but increase their risk exposure.
  • Clients in offshore jurisdictions may struggle to seek recourse in case of disputes due to weaker regulatory frameworks.

Lawsuit and Legal Concerns

While no major lawsuits have been widely publicized against Exness, the firm has been subject to scrutiny in jurisdictions with stricter financial regulations. Critics argue that the lack of transparency in its operations could invite regulatory challenges in the future.

Section 6: Limited Product Offering

Exness has been criticized for its relatively narrow range of tradable instruments, particularly when compared to other brokers offering forex and CFDs.

Product Range Limitations

• Exness focuses heavily on forex pairs and offers limited CFDs on commodities, indices, and stocks. This narrow focus restricts traders seeking a diverse range of asset classes.
• Advanced traders have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of innovative products, such as cryptocurrencies or options trading, which are increasingly popular in the market.

Section 7: Public Perception and Media Coverage

Positive Aspects

Exness is recognized for certain strengths, such as:

• Competitive spreads in higher-tier accounts.
• A user-friendly trading platform with advanced features for experienced traders.

Negative Press

Media and industry coverage have pointed out Exness’s reliance on offshore jurisdictions and its limited offerings for retail clients under Tier-1 regulatory frameworks. Additionally, recurring customer complaints about withdrawal issues and platform reliability have overshadowed its positive aspects.

Conclusion

Exness has established itself as a significant player in the forex and CFD market, offering competitive features and a robust trading platform. However, its reliance on offshore entities for retail operations, combined with recurring complaints about account restrictions, withdrawal delays, and limited product offerings, raises serious concerns. Potential clients are advised to thoroughly evaluate these issues and ensure they understand the regulatory environment under which they will be trading.

The controversies surrounding Exness underscore the importance of choosing brokers with clear, transparent operations and strong regulatory oversight. While Exness appeals to many traders due to its competitive conditions, the negative feedback and concerns about transparency warrant careful consideration.

How do we counteract this malpractice?

Once we ascertain the involvement of Exness (or actors working on behalf of Exness), we will inform Exness of our findings via Electronic Mail.

Our preliminary assessment suggests that Exness may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Exness, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Exness to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.

Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –

Since Exness made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and sensitive information targeted online by these events get a lot more exposure and traffic than what it would have received originally

We hope this becomes an excellent case study for the Streisand effect…The key idea behind the Streisand effect is that efforts to restrict information can backfire, often causing the information to gain more attention than it would have otherwise. This effect is widespread in the digital age, where users quickly notice and spread censorship efforts on social media and other platforms. Trying to suppress something can unintentionally lead to it becoming more visible, which Exness is finding out the hard way.

Potential Consequences for Exness

Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.

Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.

Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.”  Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).

Is Exness Committing a Cyber Crime?

Yes, it seems so. Exness used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Exness could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.

Faced with these limitations, some companies like Exness have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Exness is certainly keeping interesting company here….

The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.

Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.

Reputation Agency's Modus Operandi

The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.

Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.

As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by Exness creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.

The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.

The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.

In committing numerous offences, Exness either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Exness, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. FSMSmart is certainly keeping interesting company here.

The Reputation Laundering

Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.

The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.

In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.

This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.

Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. Exness is in great company ….

What else is Exness hiding?

We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Exness] + {Negative Keyword, such as Scam, Fraud, Complaints, Lawsuit, Sanction, etc} on Google. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)

To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with industry experts and researchers. If you have any information on Exness that you want to share with experts and journalists, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].

All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.