The team of the European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) co-founded by FinTelegram, together with its lawyers reports on a regular basis financial service providers involved in scams to the respective financial market supervisory authority. Fintechs very often make themselves easily available as payment service providers (PSP) for scams without proper KYC and AML checks. By doing so they give those scams access to the global financial market.
It is, however, not up to EFRI to judge whether the involvement of these PSPs in scams constitutes legal or regulatory violations. On the other hand, audits have to be carried out in the interest of the aggrieved retail investors. Far too often, the competent supervisory authorities fail to recognize such scams and their payment processors. Therefore, EFRI seeks to assist regulators in the very interests of the defrauded retail investors.
EFRI sees itself as an international, multi-jurisdictional ombudsman for retail investors and the interests of a secure financial retail market. We will, therefore, confront the supervisory authorities with our findings and ensure to the best of our ability that infringements of laws and redress laws are investigated by the competent supervisory authorities. We want to ensure that retail investors are not forgotten.
Elfriede Sixt, EFRI principal and retail investor advocate
The specific case concerns the International Fintech UAB registered in Lithuania and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania. For example, it has been involved as a payment service provider (PSP) in the huge broker scam of KontoFX (read FinTelegram report here). We hope that the Bank of Lithuania will comply with EFRI’s request for an audit in the interests of the retail investors who have suffered huge losses. The close monitoring of PSPs involved in high-risk businesses is for sure a
