The controversial trading platform Banxso has cloned its operations under a new brand, AfriMarkets reports Moneyweb.

As a result, Banxso continues to trade after its bank accounts were frozen, its financial advisory and intermediary services licences were provisionally withdrawn, and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) said it believes it is a ‘criminal enterprise designed to defraud innocent members of the public’.

A Moneyweb investigation found that Banxso owns AfriMarkets and shares directors, while its trading platform and business model are virtually identical to Banxso’s.

The most notable is that AfriMarkets’ trading platform is integrated with the registration functions of fake ads through which billionaire celebrities such as Johann Rupert and Elon Musk ‘market’ investment products.

These products promise monthly returns of between R120 000 and R300 000 on a once-off investment of between R4 500 and R4 800.

AfriMarkets launched in March, shortly after Banxso’s links to the fake advertising were flagged and just before the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) initiated an investigation into its operations. It has a Category I Fais licence, which it received last year.

Moneyweb notes that Banxso’s directors Harel Sekler and Warwick Schneider are also directors of AfriMarkets, while Sekler also owns both companies.

Sekler was previously linked to Banc de Binary, one of the largest international binary options scams between 2010 and 2017.

Hendrik Theron of Hanekom Attorneys, on behalf of Banxso and AfriMarkets, stated in response to questions that: ‘Banxso and Afrimarkets (sic) are wholly distinct legal entities, only sharing common ownership.’

He also strongly denied that AfriMarkets is linked to the fake advertising.

Full Moneyweb report