Techfin Markets Limited

A summary of what happened?

Techfin Markets Limited is a financial services firm headquartered in Nassau, Bahamas, operating under the regulation of the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) with license number 10183528. The company specializes in providing tailored brokerage services to institutional clients, including global brokers and proprietary trading firms.

Key Concerns and Complaints:

1. Customer Service Issues:
   • A client from India reported a negative experience with Techfin Markets Limited, describing the customer service as “horrible” and advising others to “stay away from them and protect your capital.”
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2. Lack of Detailed Information:
   • The company’s official website provides limited information regarding trading conditions, account types, and commission structures. Potential clients may find it challenging to obtain comprehensive details about the services offered.
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3. Regulatory Jurisdiction:
   • Being regulated by the SCB in the Bahamas, Techfin Markets Limited operates under a regulatory framework that may not offer the same level of investor protection as more stringent jurisdictions like the UK or the US. Clients should be aware of the implications of engaging with firms regulated in offshore jurisdictions.

Recommendations for Potential Clients:

• Conduct Thorough Due Diligence: Before engaging with Techfin Markets Limited, prospective clients should seek detailed information about the company’s services, fees, and regulatory standing.
• Assess Regulatory Protections: Understand the level of investor protection provided under the SCB’s regulatory framework and compare it with other regulatory bodies.
• Review Client Feedback: Consider existing client reviews and experiences to gauge the company’s reliability and service quality.

In summary, while Techfin Markets Limited positions itself as a specialized brokerage service provider for institutional clients, potential customers should exercise caution. The reported customer service issues, limited publicly available information, and the regulatory environment necessitate thorough research and careful consideration before engagement.

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 Techfin Markets Limited trying to hide?

Techfin Markets Limited‘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 Techfin Markets Limited in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Techfin Markets Limited may be trying to remove from the internet –

Investigative Report: Techfin Markets Limited – Allegations, Complaints, and Concerns

Techfin Markets Limited, a financial services provider headquartered in Nassau, Bahamas, operates under the regulation of the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB). The company primarily caters to institutional clients, such as global brokers and proprietary trading firms. While it presents itself as a trustworthy partner in the financial markets, Techfin Markets Limited has come under scrutiny due to customer complaints, regulatory concerns, and operational transparency issues.

This report delves into the adverse news, complaints, and concerns surrounding the company, aiming to provide a comprehensive analysis for potential clients and stakeholders.

1. Overview of Techfin Markets Limited

A. Corporate Background

• Headquarters: Nassau, Bahamas.
• Regulatory Body: Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB), license number 10183528.
• Primary Clientele: Institutional clients, including brokers and trading firms.
• Service Offering: Tailored brokerage services focusing on liquidity, market execution, and trading technology.

B. Claims by the Company

Techfin Markets Limited markets itself as a reliable broker offering advanced trading technology and robust financial services. However, the company’s marketing claims have been challenged by reports of poor customer service, lack of transparency, and limited operational details.

2. Regulatory Concerns

A. Offshore Regulation

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) regulates Techfin Markets Limited. While SCB is a legitimate regulatory body, its framework is often criticized for being less stringent compared to top-tier regulators such as:

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US.
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

B. Implications for Investors

• Limited Protections: Offshore jurisdictions like the Bahamas are often perceived as providing weaker investor protections compared to more established financial hubs.
• Challenges in Dispute Resolution: Clients operating under SCB-regulated firms may face difficulties in pursuing legal recourse or recovering funds in cases of disputes or insolvency.

C. Lack of Transparency in Regulatory Filings

There is limited publicly available information about Techfin Markets Limited’s compliance with SCB’s regulatory requirements. The company does not provide extensive details about its adherence to anti-money laundering (AML) or know-your-customer (KYC) protocols, raising questions about its operational transparency.

3. Customer Complaints and Negative Reviews

A. Poor Customer Service

One of the most significant complaints against Techfin Markets Limited comes from a customer in India who described their experience as “horrible.”

• Allegations:
  • Unresponsive customer support.
  • Lack of adequate resolution for queries and concerns.
• Impact: Such complaints undermine the company’s reputation, especially in a competitive industry where customer satisfaction is critical.

B. Limited Public Feedback

• Sparse Reviews: Techfin Markets Limited has relatively few reviews available on major broker rating platforms. This scarcity of information makes it challenging to assess its reliability and client satisfaction comprehensively.
• Negative Trends: The existing reviews largely point to dissatisfaction with customer support and lack of clarity in communication.

4. Transparency Issues

A. Inadequate Disclosure

Techfin Markets Limited’s official website provides only limited information about its services, trading conditions, and fee structures. Key details missing include:

• Commission Rates: No clear breakdown of commission charges.
• Account Types: Lack of detailed descriptions of account offerings tailored for different clients.
• Spreads and Leverage: Absence of specific data on spreads and leverage ratios, which are critical factors for institutional trading clients.

B. Opaque Business Model

Potential clients may find it difficult to evaluate the company’s business model due to:

• Limited access to financial statements or operational metrics.
• Unclear differentiation between Techfin Markets Limited and similar offshore brokers.

5. Impersonation and Scam Risks

Offshore brokers like Techfin Markets Limited often face the risk of impersonation scams, where fraudulent entities use their name and branding to deceive investors.

• Potential Risks:
  • Investors depositing funds with fake websites or unauthorized representatives.
  • Techfin Markets Limited’s inability to mitigate these scams could further erode trust in its brand.

6. Competitive Analysis

A. Comparison with Regulated Brokers

Compared to brokers regulated by top-tier authorities, Techfin Markets Limited lags behind in:

• Investor Confidence: Offshore regulation diminishes trust.
• Market Access: Firms regulated by entities like the FCA or ASIC enjoy broader market access and greater client trust.
• Reputation Management: Regulated brokers typically have more robust dispute resolution mechanisms and investor compensation schemes.

B. Offshore Brokerage Trends

Techfin Markets Limited’s operation in an offshore jurisdiction aligns with a broader industry trend where brokers seek lenient regulatory environments to minimize compliance costs. However, this approach often comes at the expense of client trust and operational transparency.

7. Industry and Public Perception

A. Lack of Prominence

Techfin Markets Limited is not widely known or reviewed in the global brokerage industry, indicating limited market penetration and presence.

B. Risk Warnings

• Experts caution against engaging with offshore brokers like Techfin Markets Limited due to potential risks, including financial losses and lack of legal recourse.
• The company’s sparse online presence and limited user feedback amplify concerns about its legitimacy and reliability.

8. Recommendations for Potential Clients

A. Conduct Due Diligence

• Verify the company’s regulatory status directly with the Securities Commission of The Bahamas.
• Request comprehensive details about trading conditions, fees, and operational policies before engaging.

B. Consider Regulated Alternatives

Clients seeking greater protection and transparency should consider brokers regulated by top-tier authorities. These firms typically offer:

• Enhanced dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Participation in compensation schemes for investor protection.

C. Evaluate Customer Reviews

• Research customer feedback across multiple platforms to identify consistent trends in service quality and reliability.
• Approach brokers with mixed or negative reviews cautiously.

9. Conclusion: A Broker Under Scrutiny

Techfin Markets Limited presents itself as a legitimate offshore broker catering to institutional clients. However, the concerns raised by customer complaints, transparency issues, and its offshore regulatory environment cast doubts on its reliability and suitability for investors.

Key Concerns:

1. Poor customer service and unresolved complaints.
2. Limited transparency regarding trading conditions and business operations.
3. Offshore regulation under SCB, which provides weaker investor protections compared to top-tier jurisdictions.

While Techfin Markets Limited may appeal to certain institutional clients, retail investors and smaller firms should exercise caution and consider more established, regulated alternatives to mitigate risks. The company’s future success will depend on its ability to address these concerns and build trust within the competitive brokerage industry.

How do we counteract this malpractice?

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

Our preliminary assessment suggests that Techfin Markets Limited may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Techfin Markets Limited, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Techfin Markets Limited 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 Techfin Markets Limited 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 Techfin Markets Limited is finding out the hard way.

Potential Consequences for Techfin Markets Limited

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 Techfin Markets Limited Committing a Cyber Crime?

Yes, it seems so. Techfin Markets Limited 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. Techfin Markets Limited 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 Techfin Markets Limited 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. Techfin Markets Limited 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 Techfin Markets Limited 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, Techfin Markets Limited either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Techfin Markets Limited, 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. Techfin Markets Limited is in great company ….

What else is Techfin Markets Limited hiding?

We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Techfin Markets Limited] + {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 Techfin Markets Limited 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.