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Comgest Fx Review: Legit Broker or Just Another Scam?

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Daniel Johnson

His career began in retail banking, where he honed his skills in assisting clients with various financial needs. Over the years, Daniel transitioned into supporting traders and investors, becoming well-versed in the intricacies of the trading industry.

At traderhelpbook.com, Daniel plays a pivotal role as the head of customer support. He is dedicated to ensuring that every user receives prompt and effective assistance. Daniel ‘s deep understanding of financial services and his commitment to customer satisfaction make him instrumental in providing a positive experience for our users. His friendly demeanor and problem-solving skills contribute to building trust and fostering long-term relationships with our community of traders and investors.

European Forex/CFD brokers operate under the supervision of reputable regulators who protect the rights and interests of clients. As a rule, such companies are reliable, trading with them is safe, and problems with withdrawals are rare. However, none of this applies to the project discussed here regarding Comgest Fx. Its owners try to convince us of the platform’s European origin and the presence of licenses. But all of this is just a polished story; behind the scenes, scammers are conducting their operations. These fraudsters have only one goal — to seize traders’ funds. Below you will find the full truth about this pseudo-broker.

Does Comgest Fx Show Any Risk Factors?

At first glance, the official information provided by the broker looks impressive. COMGEST ASSET MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, which uses the trade name Comgest Fx, according to its version:

  • Is registered in Ireland under number 395271.
  • Operates from an office in Dublin.
  • Holds a CONSOB license (Italy’s financial regulator) No. 4660.
  • Is registered in Ireland under number 395271.
  • Operates from an office in Dublin.
  • Holds a CONSOB license (Italy’s financial regulator) No. 4660.

In short, it seems like a reputable brokerage service provider. Perhaps one could even trust them with money.

We would like to believe this, but something still made us verify the provided information. Of course, we started with the registration in Ireland and even confirmed that the data on the website is real.

For a small fee, anyone can even request documents confirming the company’s solvency and financial standing. What interested us was the fact of the real registration of the firm in Dublin in 2004 under number 395271.

Another detail raised some concern — an Italian license for an Irish company. However, this was also in order.

The Italian regulator’s license number 4660 indeed belongs to the above-mentioned Irish firm and grants the right to:

  • Accept, send, and execute client orders related to financial instruments.
  • Manage assets.
  • Operate as an investment advisor.
  • Accept, send, and execute client orders related to financial instruments.
  • Manage assets.
  • Operate as an investment advisor.

At the same time, the company fully complies with European law: it is authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland (CIB) with reference number C39852as a financial services provider operating under the EU’s MiFID directives. In short, an ideal broker. Could it really open and fund accounts?

Don’t rush to conclusions, because that’s exactly the point of the act. The investment firm COMGEST ASSET MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, registered and authorized in Ireland (and beyond), has nothing to do with the Forex and CFD broker we are reviewing. The real company is a division of the global Comgest group, which specializes in long-term investments, manages dozens of funds worldwide, and has served private and corporate clients for over 40 years. Details can be found on the group’s official website. The Offices page also contains information about the Irish company. At the same time, the site contains not a single mention of retail Forex trading, client services for access to it, or, even more so, trading with leverage of 1:1000.

However, the project’s owners were betrayed either by ignorance of European laws and regulator requirements or by confidence that traders registering with the broker would not know. Looking at what they offer, the problems with this story become obvious:

  • The registration process on the Comgest Fx site is extremely simplified: no KYC procedure, no questionnaire to determine client status (retail or professional), no test to assess readiness to work with high-risk assets.
  • The documents do not comply with common European standards: there is no GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy, no risk disclosures, no KYC or AML policies.
  • The leverage levels really surprised us. Does the broker really expect anyone to believe it is possible to trade in Europe with leverage up to 1:1000?
  • The registration process on the Comgest Fx site is extremely simplified: no KYC procedure, no questionnaire to determine client status (retail or professional), no test to assess readiness to work with high-risk assets.
  • The documents do not comply with common European standards: there is no GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy, no risk disclosures, no KYC or AML policies.
  • The leverage levels really surprised us. Does the broker really expect anyone to believe it is possible to trade in Europe with leverage up to 1:1000?

It gets worse. Remember, the real company was registered in 2004. Yet the whois information for the domain comgestfx.com shows completely different data.

By the way, the reviews also confirm that this is a newcomer. There are almost no reviews online, with only 36 comments found on Trustpilot. The first comgestfx.com review appeared on August 15, the second part of the posts on August 22, and the remaining part on September 10. Surprisingly, it seems the broker’s owners consider a batch of a dozen posts in a single day to be normal. Even more, all the authors praise the broker enthusiastically without providing any specifics, each rating it 5 out of 5. We know for sure that there’s nothing good here. These are paid posts created to give the platform a positive image.

Let’s Break Down the Leverage

Comgest Fx offers different maximum leverage levels on various account types, ranging from 1:100 to 1:1000. As we mentioned, it distinguishes between retail and professional traders. For the former, such leverage is far too high and entails:

  • Increased risks. Leverage amplifies not only potential profits but also potential losses. If the market moves against an open position, even a small price change can lead to significant losses.
  • Automatic loss realization. If losses on a position reach a certain level (when margin requirements cannot be met), the broker automatically closes part or all of the open positions. The trader loses money without the chance to wait for the market to reverse.
  • Complicated money management. High leverage makes risk management much harder. A single unsuccessful trade can wipe out a large portion of the deposit, making effective capital management and adherence to risk limits nearly impossible.
  • Increased risks. Leverage amplifies not only potential profits but also potential losses. If the market moves against an open position, even a small price change can lead to significant losses.
  • Automatic loss realization. If losses on a position reach a certain level (when margin requirements cannot be met), the broker automatically closes part or all of the open positions. The trader loses money without the chance to wait for the market to reverse.
  • Complicated money management. High leverage makes risk management much harder. A single unsuccessful trade can wipe out a large portion of the deposit, making effective capital management and adherence to risk limits nearly impossible.

Even for professional traders, leverage levels of 1:500 or 1:1000 carry unacceptable risks. In light of this, regulators in European Union countries have set leverage limits for retail clients. These limits comply with rules adopted by ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) in 2018 to ensure investor protection. Maximum leverage for retail clients is:

  • 30:1 for major currency pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, etc.).
  • 20:1 for minor currency pairs, gold, and major stock indices.
  • 10:1 for commodities (except gold) and minor stock indices.
  • 5:1 for stocks and other assets.
  • 2:1 for cryptocurrencies.
  • 30:1 for major currency pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, etc.).
  • 20:1 for minor currency pairs, gold, and major stock indices.
  • 10:1 for commodities (except gold) and minor stock indices.
  • 5:1 for stocks and other assets.
  • 2:1 for cryptocurrencies.

There are no strict limits on leverage for professional investors, though it is recommended not to exceed 400:1.

What Does the Сomgestfx.com Website Reveal?

On the broker’s official website, there’s certainly “something to see.” No, we’re not talking about the animated banners that appear on almost every page. For example, the one on the homepage is chosen completely poorly: the speed of movement and the monotony of the image are at least irritating. We also don’t mean the design of the rest of the pages, as there’s nothing noteworthy there either.

We wanted to draw your attention to content issues and show that a real broker would never allow this. Judge for yourself:

  • The only working language of the Comgest Fx website is English; there are no options to switch to other languages. Yet the account types table is in Italian. Without knowing Italian, it’s hard to understand even what’s written on the “Deposits & Withdrawals” or “Trading Academy” pages.
  • The About Us page contains almost no information about the broker. All you’ll find there is a repeat of the failed story about an Irish company with an Italian license. Oh, and there’s also a mention of 100,000 assets available to traders. Though on the homepage there were only 1,000+, but who’s ever been bothered by a hundredfold discrepancy in the same figure?
  • We’ve already mentioned many issues in the previous section: the set of documents does not meet European regulatory requirements, and the registration process ignores all regulatory prescriptions.
  • The only working language of the Comgest Fx website is English; there are no options to switch to other languages. Yet the account types table is in Italian. Without knowing Italian, it’s hard to understand even what’s written on the “Deposits & Withdrawals” or “Trading Academy” pages.
  • The About Us page contains almost no information about the broker. All you’ll find there is a repeat of the failed story about an Irish company with an Italian license. Oh, and there’s also a mention of 100,000 assets available to traders. Though on the homepage there were only 1,000+, but who’s ever been bothered by a hundredfold discrepancy in the same figure?
  • We’ve already mentioned many issues in the previous section: the set of documents does not meet European regulatory requirements, and the registration process ignores all regulatory prescriptions.

This is what only scammers do: for them, the website itself isn’t that important; what matters is that it exists. They attract clients by entirely different, often not entirely legal, methods. Moreover, they usually target beginners who know nothing about trading or brokers. Objectively assessing the web resource is something these clients cannot do, otherwise this scam platform would never have had any clients.

Is the Broker Offering Fair or Risky Terms for Traders?

Of course, the most important thing in a broker’s activity is the trading conditions it offers. A detailed description helps users evaluate whether working with the company is profitable, what the potential returns, costs, and risks are, and whether it’s worth opening an account at all. Probably that’s why Comgest Fx decided not to provide detailed information. All they published is a table of account types (don’t be surprised — it’s in Italian on an English-language website).

What does the broker offer in its plans?

  • Bronze — deposit from €250, leverage up to 1:100, spreads from 2.5 pips.
  • Silver — €10,000 to start, leverage 1:200, spreads from 1.9 pips.
  • Gold — minimum deposit €25,000, huge leverage up to 1:400, spreads from 1.4 pips.
  • Platinum — start with €75,000, maximum leverage 1:500, spreads from 1.0 pip.
  • Diamond — requires €100,000, but allows trades with leverage up to 1:1000 and spreads from 0.3 pips.
  • Bronze — deposit from €250, leverage up to 1:100, spreads from 2.5 pips.
  • Silver — €10,000 to start, leverage 1:200, spreads from 1.9 pips.
  • Gold — minimum deposit €25,000, huge leverage up to 1:400, spreads from 1.4 pips.
  • Platinum — start with €75,000, maximum leverage 1:500, spreads from 1.0 pip.
  • Diamond — requires €100,000, but allows trades with leverage up to 1:1000 and spreads from 0.3 pips.

Impressive? Honestly, we are very impressed. On the Bronze starter account, the conditions are generally unacceptable (a minimum spread of 2.1 pips versus the industry average of 0.6–0.9 shows how little interest the broker has). Meanwhile, the minimum deposit is only 40 times higher. And what does the trader get for this amount? A 0.2 pip reduction (10% from the starting spread). Very pragmatic approach: want improvements, pay more. And more or less competitive conditions can only be obtained by depositing €75,000 or more.

At the same time, the huge “hidden trap” is not even hidden. We’re talking about leverage, which increases along with the deposit size. Beginners, reading the broker’s educational materials, will calculate potential profits. We disappoint them — they should calculate potential losses. But, of course, every trader knows the size of their own deposit. With such leverage, losing it is a matter of 2–3 trades.

As for “minor details” from the project owners’ point of view — like exact spreads, swap fees, or trading commissions — there’s no need to mention them. Apparently, the company didn’t even bother to create contract specifications (imagine posting them for 10,000 instruments — or even 1,000, still too lazy).

They did create a page called Spreads, Commissions And Swaps, of course. But no one filled it in. So the trader remains in the dark about trading costs and potential profitability. In some ways, Comgest Fx is right: the predicted return with probability 1.0 is -100%. So why bother providing extra data?

Technical Support Analysis of Comgest Fx

The broker also hides the company’s contact details. Otherwise, it would be impossible to assess their absence from the site. There is a link in the footer to a Contacts page, but it does not work. In short, Comgest Fx decided that a separate contacts page is an unnecessary luxury and, in general, traders don’t need any way to get in touch.

As a result, users only know an address stolen from a real Irish company. Particularly persistent visitors might be able to find the support email somewhere on the site. There is no phone number for the broker with “several licenses in various jurisdictions” either — apparently, all the money went to paying for these licenses, and they haven’t been able to afford a phone yet. The same goes for an office: the platform currently operates in a virtual space, waiting for a generous client to make a deposit.

Strengths and Weaknesses

  • You only need a starting capital of 250 euros to begin trading.
  • Some of the animated banners on the pages are very well made.
  • You only need a starting capital of 250 euros to begin trading.
  • Some of the animated banners on the pages are very well made.
  • The broker is not registered anywhere but has invented a convincing story using the name of a real investment company and its license information.
  • The platform has no brokerage licenses of its own; its activities are illegal.
  • The company does not provide real contact information and clearly does not intend to support users.
  • Trading conditions are hidden; those published indicate significant trader costs and extreme risks.
  • Within a couple of days, more than a dozen positive reviews appeared online, obviously ordered and paid for by the project owners.
  • The broker is not registered anywhere but has invented a convincing story using the name of a real investment company and its license information.
  • The platform has no brokerage licenses of its own; its activities are illegal.
  • The company does not provide real contact information and clearly does not intend to support users.
  • Trading conditions are hidden; those published indicate significant trader costs and extreme risks.
  • Within a couple of days, more than a dozen positive reviews appeared online, obviously ordered and paid for by the project owners.