The New Zealand Financial Market authority has issued another warning about investment company Validus.
The FMA said it was aware that seminars had been held in New Zealand to promote the company’s products and services.
“We are concerned that Validus is operating in breach of the New Zealand financial markets legislation, in particular, Validus is providing financial services in New Zealand without registration as a financial service provider as required by the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008,” the FMS said.
“We strongly recommend that investors do not trade or invest with entities that are not registered and/or licensed in New Zealand.”
The FMA said Validus had contacted it to claim it was not connected to the website teamsvalidus.com or Validus-team-official.com.
As we reported earlier this year, Validus’s services had been popular with some Tongans in New Zealand, Tonga and Australia.
It is understood Validus has arrived in Tonga and promotions of its services have been shared on social media for the kingdom.
The Tongan community has already been affected by scams, including pyramid schemes in which people have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In February Stuff reported that Validus was holding a meeting in South Auckland.
In February the FMA issued an interim Stop Order to Validus International LLC (registered in Delaware, USA). This prohibited the company from making offers, issues, sales or other acquisitions or disposals of financial products, accepting applications for financial products, or accepting further contributions, investments, or deposits .
The FMA said Validus and its staff appeared to be dishonest and misleading.
“The public should exercise caution in dealing with this company and its associates,” the FMA said.
The FMA warning is the latest in a series of glo bal warnings about Validus.
Last year the Australian securities and Investment Commission described the company’s activities as suspicious.
“Do not deal with, or transfer money to this entity,” ASIC said.
ASIC warned that Validus was not licensed to operate in Australia and said its claims of high returns were unrealistic.
For more information
Financial authority issues ‘interim stop order’ against Validus company
WARNING: Validus | Financial Markets Authority (fma.govt.nz)
FMA issues interim stop order to Validus and its associated persons | Financial Markets Authority
FMA issues interim stop order to Validus and its associated persons | Financial Markets Authority
