Malaysia's financial regulator has said that the brands of online retail brokerage Alpari International and Alpari Trading Malaysia are not authorised to operate in the country. As a result, the Securities Commission (SC) has placed the global Forex broker on its list of unlicensed companies.

Several corporate entities, such as Alpari, have been placed on the warning list by the Malaysian regulator SC

Over the past two years, Alpari has closed operations in several countries for different reasons.

In 2019, following the Central Bank of Russia's decision to strip several local retail foreign exchange (FX) brokers such as Alpari, TeleTrade, TrustFOREX, and others of their regulatory licenses, Alpari's Russian entity ceased all activities.

The central bank's decision was made in connection with violations of the authority's guidance by the broker system, deficiencies in risk management and other factors. Second, due to the lack of competition in the local market, Russian citizens focus their attention abroad. Only 1.75% of retail investors in Russia choose a domestic broker, while over 98% of investors trade with foreign brokers. Many investors are using sister companies of brokerage firms registered in Russia. Alpari, for example, obtains Russian clients through a local website, but then lets them sign contracts with one of the firm's offshore sister brokers. That may be one of the main reasons for the move.

Earlier in 2018, Alpari also voluntarily closed its subsidiary in Belize and transferred its customers to its Saint Vincent and the Grenadines subsidiary.

In addition to Alpari, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has also blacklisted cryptocurrency exchange BitForex along with 10 websites for conducting investment services in the country without authorization. BitForex is headquartered in Hong Kong and incorporated in Seychelles.

The watchdog advised its citizens not to use services provided by these entities or make any investments with companies or individuals that are not approved or licensed by the watchdog.

The following individuals and entities are blacklisted:

BitForex

Alpari International / Alpari Trading Malaysia

Azzad Islamic Investment

ICGXE

Rise-Market / Rise Marketing & Consultant Sdn Bhd

Ikhlas Exclusive

Triumph International / Triumph Investment Malaysia

World Trade Centre Investment/ World Trade Center (M) Sdn Bhd

Al-Esbah General Trading Co

Gold Hijab Investment Grou

Royal Win Trade