The websites of two unregulated trading platforms, Octa (https://www.octafx.com ) and XM (https://www.xm.com ) will be blocked in Singapore, as they have been determined to be in breach of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 (SFA).

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) have received information that the services offered by Octa and XM included trading in Forex on a leveraged basis, commodities, indices and equities. Police investigations have revealed that both Octa and XM offered and marketed their services to customers in Singapore without licences, which is in breach of the SFA.

Under Section 82 of the SFA, a capital markets services licence is required for an entity to carry on business in the regulated activity of dealing in capital markets products, which include securities and leveraged foreign exchange trading.

The Octa platform is operated by two entities, Octa Markets Ltd and Uni Fin Invest, purportedly incorporated in the Union of Comoros and Mauritius respectively.

The XM platform is operated by XM Global Limited, which is purportedly incorporated in Belize.

These entities – Octa Markets Ltd, Uni Fin Invest or XM Global Limited do not hold the requisite licence. As such, they are prohibited from carrying on such a business. This prohibition extends to entities operating outside Singapore, when the entities solicit or advertise products or services that are targeted at Singapore persons, or if there is a substantial number of Singaporeans using a foreign entity’s products or services.

The information on the websites constitutes prohibited content under the Internet Code of Practice. As such, access to both trading platforms’ websites will be blocked for Singapore residents with effect from 20 June 2025 and consumers with active accounts with Octa and XM will not be able to access their websites through Internet Access Service Providers based in Singapore.

The SPF and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) strongly encourage members of the public to deal only with regulated online trading platforms with valid capital markets services licenses, which are listed on MAS’ Financial Institutions Directory. Most unregulated online trading platforms are located outside Singapore and pose a greater risk of fraud since the credibility of their operations cannot be easily verified.

In addition to being subject to the risk of financial loss, members of the public may face challenges in pursuing claims against operators based overseas. Online trading platforms may also require payment for trades to be made using credit or debit cards, which gives rise to a further risk of unauthorised card transactions.