US derivatives markets regulator The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced an order filing and settling charges against Netrios LP Ltd. and Red Acre Ltd., for facilitating illegal off-exchange leveraged or margined retail commodity transactions involving US customers who were not eligible contract participants.

Under the order, Netrios must pay a $1.75 million civil monetary penalty, and Red Acre must pay a $750,000 civil monetary penalty. Both firms must also cease and desist from the unlawful conduct. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also announced the filing and settling of charges against Netrios and Red Acre based on the same underlying conduct.

Netrios and Red Acre are part of the Deus X Capital group, which also operates the FunderPro prop trading firm, trading platform provider TradeLocker, and newly-launched offshore CFDs broker NextTrade.

CFTC order

The order finds that Netrios sold a specialized service that provided essential functions used to offer and sell leveraged or margined retail commodities through offshore, off-exchange branded platforms that solicited US customers without regard for whether those customers met eligible contract participant requirements. Red Acre intentionally helped Netrios by providing customer and other support. In doing so, Netrios carried out activities that lawfully could only be performed on a CFTC-registered exchange, and Red Acre aided and abetted Netrios’s illegal activities.

SEC settlement

The US SEC broke out in more detail what led to the fines to Netrios and Red Acre.

From at least 2019 until September 2025, Netrios offered and sold security-based swaps to U.S. retail investors. To offer and sell these products, Netrios created the technology and infrastructure for ready-to-operate online white-label brokerage platforms that Netrios then sold to operators to operate under their own brand.

The white-label brokers, including at least 15 that were owned and operated primarily from within the United States, offered customers the ability to trade CFDs based on stocks, commodities, and other assets.

Red Acre, an affiliate of Netrios, provided know-your-customer (KYC) verification, marketing, and other services that facilitated Netrios’ offer and sale of the CFDs.

Netrios

Netrios LP Ltd. is a privately-owned entity incorporated in Saint Lucia that operated a remote-based business with employees in multiple locations outside the United States. In January 2024, it became the successor entity to Netrios Ltd., incorporated in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Netrios provided white-label trading platforms for online brokers that included website creation, back-office services, and the provision of liquidity, pricing, and order execution services.

The Netrios website (netrios.com) now seems to be down.

Red Acre

Red Acre, Ltd. is an affiliate of Netrios and a privately-owned entity incorporated in the Republic of Malta with business operations in Malta. The company provided KYC verification and marketing services to Netrios’ white-label brokers and their customers.

Netrios and Red Acre white label operation

From at least 2019 until September 2025, Netrios and Red Acre, which were under common control, provided white-label trading platforms for the creation and operation of online brokers for trading CFDs. Netrios’ white-label product allowed its partners to host an online brokerage under their own brand and offer CFDs. Netrios and Red Acre established relationships with individuals, many of whom were prominent traders or influencers residing in the United States, who served as owners and operators of the white-label brokers.

In exchange for an up-front fee, Netrios, with Red Acre’s assistance, provided the white-label operators with ready-to-operate websites that the white-label operators branded with their own name, logo, and color scheme. The default language, terms, and CFDs offered for trading on these white-label broker websites was provided by Red Acre, including the legal terms and conditions. The websites for the white-label brokers then offered trading accounts directly to customers.

Netrios and Red Acre provided the necessary technological infrastructure and services for the operation of the white-label brokers. Netrios provided back-office systems, sublicenses for a third-party trading application, pricing and liquidity for the trades, and custodial services for customer funds. In some instances, Netrios also introduced the white-label operators to service providers for the purpose of establishing overseas corporate entities for their businesses.

For a monthly fee paid by the white-label operators, Red Acre provided KYC verification and customer support services such as assisting customers with registration, account deposits, or withdrawals, downloading or operating the requisite software for trading, and the resolution of customer complaints. Red Acre also provided marketing services to some of the white-label brokers, such as email and social media marketing campaigns.

Customers onboarding / KYC

Customers registered on the white-label brokers’ websites and funded their trading accounts with Bitcoin or other crypto assets. While trading by customers in certain countries was restricted as part of the KYC process, US residents were permitted to register and trade through the white-label brokers. In fact, US residents made up the majority of customer accounts of certain white-label brokers. Aside from identity verification, customers were not required to provide other information during the KYC process, such as proof of total assets or amounts invested. Accordingly, there was no attempt to verify the status of customers as eligible contract participants.

After registration, customers were directed to download a third-party application where they could enter trades. Netrios populated pricing from a third-party feed and trading account information on the third-party application, and profit and loss information from the trading activity was fed back to Netrios’ servers, where customer account balances on the white-label brokers’ websites were adjusted accordingly. It received and executed orders and maintained records of the transactions. Netrios controlled the customers’ trading data and identity information and determined the access white-label operators had to that information.

White-label brokers

The white-label brokers’ websites offered CFD trading based on a variety of financial assets, including stocks traded on US and European exchanges, foreign currency exchange, crypto assets, broad-based equity indices, such as the Nasdaq-100, and commodities. This allowed customers to speculate on the price of the underlying asset without taking ownership of that asset—the asset was not bought, sold, or custodied anywhere.

When trading the CFDs, customers selected whether they wanted to take a long or short position. Customers who purchased a “long” CFD profited if the price of the corresponding asset increased and incurred a loss if it decreased. Those who purchased a “short” CFD profited if the price of the corresponding asset decreased and incurred a loss if it increased. Customers were offered significant leverage for these trades with large potential upside, but also significant downside.

Netrios provided the white-label brokers with the CFDs, which were marketed on the white-label brokers’ websites and available for trading. It provided liquidity for the trades and assumed the risk of profit or loss on the trades. Netrios assessed its risk exposure from the CFD positions across its portfolio of white-label brokers, and engaged in additional hedging activity to mitigate risk of loss.

Customers were charged a commission per trade, which was collected by Netrios on behalf of the white-label brokers. Netrios shared a portion of these commissions. Netrios and the white-label brokers also shared activity fees for “swaps” (i.e., when a customer held a trade open past market close) and “spreads” on the trading activity (i.e., the difference between the buying and the selling price).

Between 2019 and 2025, Netrios facilitated the creation and operation of at least 15 white-label brokers that were primarily owned or operated within the United States, and whose websites were publicly available to anyone in the United States. These white-label brokers were not registered in any capacity with the Commission.

In September 2025, Netrios ceased offering services to the white-label brokers and ceased to offer security-based swaps through the white-label brokers.