Heron Tower forex trader CWM FX drops website after provider Leverate pulls platform
CWM FX has pulled the forex trading function from its website after platform provider Leverate Financial Services terminated its working agreement, City A.M. understands.
Earlier this month CWM FX referred to a City of London police raid at Heron Tower (100 Bishopsgate) in which 13 people were arrested, and later released on bail. Further details are expected to emerge today.
The company’s Twitter account @CWMFX wrote on 4 March: “CWM FX is operating as normal. Merely an AML [anti-money laundering] enquiry & had no correspondence to us.” The tweet was later deleted.
CWM FX has always denied that it was raided by the police and that it had been implicated in any investigation at all.
However, the publicity is thought to have contributed to Leverate pulling its services. Under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules, CWM FX has been required to take down the website until new providers are in place.
The CWM FX homepage yesterday. Some pages remained visible via external links but the trading platforms were not accessible
City A.M. understands that customers were given advance warning and were able to remove their money prior to the service being pulled.
The website went down earlier today, and simply says “We are sorry for the inconvenience”. CWM FX declined to comment.
At the start of the month, CWM FX instructed high-profile lawyer Charlotte Harris – best known for her role in the phone-hacking inquiry, and now working for Kingsley Napley, having left Mishcon de Reya late last year.
Another law firm, Taylor Wessing, is now representing CW Markets, a company also registered at 110 Bishopsgate. Anthony Constantinou, the head of CWM FX, is named as a company director of CW Markets by documents at Companies House.
CWM FX has embarked on a big marketing drive in sports, signing deals with Chelsea FC, boxing legend Barry McGuigan, a MotoGP racing team, another car racing team named SV Racing, and Wigan Warriors. It also sponsored the 2015 London Boat Show.