Risk scorecard
Each area is scored 0 (clean) to 10 (worst). Higher means more risk.
Regulation
7/10 · HighNo financial licence from any regulator while taking retail deposits and advertising itself as licensed; mitigating only that it quotes no fake licence number, is not a clone, and carries no regulator warning.
Identity & transparency
4/10 · ModerateA real, disclosed company with one published registration number, a verifiable Erbil office address and consistent contact details, offset by entity names that vary across its own channels and a registry entry that cannot be independently confirmed.
Withdrawals & conduct
3/10 · LowNo fund-integrity complaints at all across five platforms in four and a half years, and no advance-fee demands; held above the clean anchor only because the client footprint is too thin to confirm that payouts work.
Reputation
5/10 · ModerateNo warning-list entry with any of the 150-plus regulators pooled in IOSCO, but almost no independent user footprint: no reviews on either Trustpilot profile and none on a 9,700-follower Facebook page.
Website claims
9/10 · CriticalAdvertises itself in its page title, meta description and disclaimer as the only licensed and authorised brokerage in Iraq and Kurdistan when no such licence exists, and re-presents a Ministry of Commerce number as a Central Bank of Iraq reference with a notice link leading only to the bank's home page.
Operational history
4/10 · ModerateAround four and a half years of continuous operation evidenced by the 2022 domain registration, with no inflated age claim; scored as an upper bound because the operating company could not be dated from a registry.
Who they are
A quick desk file on the company behind the brand.
- Brand: Myrtle, trading since early 2022 as Forex Iraq and rebranded to Myrtle; both names and both websites are the same operation.
- Legal entity: Myrtle Company for Trade Brokerage Ltd., also published by the same operator as Myrtle Financial Consultation Co., Ltd.
- Registered: Iraqi Ministry of Commerce, General Directorate of Companies Registration, number 30984, dated 19 January 2022.
- Office: Office #16, 2nd Floor, AB White Building, Gulan St., Erbil 44001, Iraq, a genuine commercial business centre on Gulan Street.
- Website: myrtle.ltd, with myrtle.krd and forexiraq.net serving the same site, plus portal.myrtle.ltd and webterminal.myrtle.ltd.
- Only licence: none. No financial regulator in any country authorises this firm.
- Offers: MetaTrader 5 on its own server, currencies, metals, indices, shares and commodities, one Standard account from $100, leverage up to 1:200, Islamic swap-free accounts.
- Payments: AsiaHawala, ZainCash, FastPay, FIB, QI Card, PayPal, WebMoney, cryptocurrency, and in-person cash on its client-offer site.
- Not accepted: no restricted-country list is published anywhere on the site.
- Age claim: no inflated history. Its company page gives 2021 and its registration is dated January 2022, which matches the oldest domain to within a day.
Regulation
Who really oversees this broker, and what each licence is worth to you.
Proof of regulation on an official register: No
We could not confirm this broker on any genuine regulator’s register.
Licences the broker publishes
Ministry of Commerce, Republic of Iraq (General Directorate of Companies Registration)
Central Bank of Iraq
ISO certificates (SCK Certifications Pvt. Ltd. and Excellence Certification Services UK Limited)
Why we reached this verdict
How the evidence adds up.
The case against Myrtle is about what it tells people, not about missing money. Two findings carry it.
- The licence does not exist. The Iraq Securities Commission is the authority that licenses brokerage firms in Iraq, and it publishes its register as a complete list of more than forty firms. We read that list in full and searched the brand, the legal entity names and the former name Forex Iraq, in English and Arabic. Myrtle appears nowhere. Iraq has no retail forex licensing regime at all, and in April 2025 Erbil's Asayish stated that forex and cryptocurrency companies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq 'are dis-allowed and have no official licensing, there are no laws or guidelines for regulating these sorts of activities', while the Kurdistan Region's Interior Ministry has called such trading 'illegal and unlicensed' under Iraqi law. A claim to be 'the only licensed brokerage authorized in Iraq and Kurdistan' cannot be true in a jurisdiction that issues no such licence.
- A trade registration is dressed up as central bank authorisation. The firm's own pages say plainly that number 30984 comes from the Ministry of Commerce. Its client-offer site then lists the same number as a 'CBI REFERENCE' under a heading about Central Bank of Iraq regulatory context, with an 'AUTHORISED ACTIVITY' of financial consulting and trade brokerage, and a link reading 'Read the official CBI notice' that opens nothing more than the central bank's home page. The Central Bank of Iraq licenses banks, exchange and payment companies; it does not authorise retail forex brokers.
- Expired certificates still on display. Four ISO certificates are shown as trust badges on the home page. The company's own certificate library gives all four a printed validity that ended on 24 May 2026, and three of the four come from a certification company we could not confirm as accredited. One of them, ISO 10962, is a standard for classifying financial instruments in data systems, which says nothing about a firm's conduct.
- A new funnel aimed at the same audience. A separate client-offer site registered in July 2026 markets the broker to named cities across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq with WhatsApp-only contact numbers, a $50 bounty for every referred friend, and deposits by cash in person or USDT. It is tied to this firm by registration number 30984, the same Erbil address, and its own footer naming Forex Iraq.
- What stops this short of a scam verdict. No regulator in the IOSCO network, which aggregates alerts from more than 150 authorities, has published any warning naming this brand or any of its domains. Across Trustpilot for both domains, the firm's own 9,700-follower Facebook page, an independent broker-review site, a third-party broker directory and Reddit, we found not one report of a refused withdrawal, a frozen account, a deleted balance, or a demand for an extra payment before funds are released. Over a four-and-a-half year operating history, that absence matters.
- Age, measured rather than assumed. The oldest domain, forexiraq.net, was registered on 20 January 2022, giving a track record of about four and a half years. We could not date the company from a registry, because the Iraqi commercial register answers searches only on paid written request, so that figure is an upper bound resting on the domain alone.
Our own broker record was wrong on this firm and we have corrected it: it listed a tier-1 Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission licence. Myrtle has never claimed any Hong Kong authorisation, and none exists.
Evidence ledger
Every finding, with its source and how strongly it points.
E1The Iraq Securities Commission publishes its register of licensed brokerage firms as a complete list of more than forty companies. Myrtle, Myrtle Company for Trade Brokerage, Myrtle Trade Brokerage and Forex Iraq all appear nowhere on it, in English or Arabic.
E2The home page headline and the site-wide page title and description state that Myrtle is 'the only licensed brokerage authorized in Iraq and Kurdistan', naming no regulator and quoting no licence number.
StrongMyrtle home pageE3The disclaimer page describes Myrtle as 'the officially licensed and internationally recognised trading intermediary in Iraq', again with no authority named, no number and no verification link anywhere on the site.
StrongMyrtle disclaimer pageE4The operator's client-offer site lists Ministry of Commerce registration number 30984 as a 'CBI REFERENCE' under a heading about Central Bank of Iraq regulatory context, with an authorised activity of financial consulting and trade brokerage, and a link reading 'Read the official CBI notice' that opens only the central bank's home page.
E5Erbil's Asayish stated on 8 April 2025 that 'ForEx and cryptocurrency companies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq are dis-allowed and have no official licensing, there are no laws or guidelines for regulating these sorts of activities', and warned companies and brokers to stop advertising such services.
E6The Kurdistan Region's Interior Ministry warned against trading in foreign exchange and digital currencies, describing such activity as illegal and unlicensed under Iraqi law.
E7The Iraq Securities Commission warns investors that brokerage companies not licensed for the activity are soliciting Iraqi traders to trade foreign instruments outside Iraqi markets, calls such solicitation illegal, and says it files complaints against unlicensed companies, one of which led to a criminal judgment.
E8Four ISO certificates are displayed as badges on the home page. The operator's own certificate library gives each an initial registration of 25 May 2023 and a printed validity ending 24 May 2026, and attributes three of them to Excellence Certification Services UK Limited, which we could not confirm as an accredited certification body.
E9The firm's own about and footer text confirms that number 30984 is a Ministry of Commerce company registration dated 19 January 2022 for a financial consulting company, which establishes that the company exists but confers no authority to operate a brokerage.
ModerateMyrtle about pageE10A search of the pooled investor alerts of more than 150 regulators returns no warning for this brand or for any of its domains; the single unrelated entry returned names a different company on a different website.
E11The Trustpilot profile for forexiraq.net was claimed by the business in August 2023 and still carries zero reviews, so there is no record there of either complaints or satisfied clients.
E12The firm's Facebook page, as a brokerage firm in Erbil with 9,700 followers and the same phone number and address as the website, is marked not yet rated with zero reviews, and recent posts draw only single-figure engagement.
E13An independent broker-review profile for forexiraq.net records the firm as unregulated, notes that a search of the Iraq Securities Commission brokerage register produced no matching record, and shows no user reviews or complaints.
E14A client-offer site registered on 7 July 2026 markets the broker to named cities across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq with WhatsApp-only contact numbers, a $50 bounty per referred friend, a $50 minimum deposit and deposits by cash in person or USDT. Its footer names Myrtle Financial Consultation Co., Ltd. (Forex Iraq) and it publishes registration number 30984 and the same Erbil office.
E15The oldest domain, forexiraq.net, was registered on 20 January 2022, one day after the stated company registration date, which makes the firm's account of its own age coherent rather than inflated.
E16The accounts page shows a deposit-taking retail trading business, with one Standard account from a $100 minimum deposit, floating spreads, leverage up to 1:200 and a 20% stop-out, on MetaTrader 5 running the firm's own server. It is a broker, not a prop firm or an introducer, so the absence of a licence is not licensed-by-design.
ModerateMyrtle accounts page
The other side
The strongest case in this broker’s favour.
The fair case for Myrtle, and it is not empty.
- This is a real company, not a front. It publishes one registration number, one street address in a real Erbil office building, local landline and mobile numbers, and a named company email, and the same details appear consistently on its website, its company page and its Facebook page. Nothing is hidden behind nominees or a mailbox.
- The trading operation is genuine. It runs its own MetaTrader 5 server, a client portal and a web terminal, with customer-relationship and introducing-broker systems visible in its certificate history. That is real infrastructure that costs real money, not a fake terminal.
- No client has publicly said they lost money. This is the strongest point in its favour. A broker that had been taking deposits since 2022 and refusing payouts would normally leave a trail, and there is none on any platform we checked.
- It does not inflate its history. Many suspect brokers advertise a decade of trading on a new domain. Myrtle's stated start and its oldest domain agree to within a day, and it makes no grand longevity claim.
- Payments run on domestic rails. AsiaHawala, ZainCash, FastPay, FIB and QI Card are mainstream Iraqi payment services, which is what a genuine local business uses. Crypto is offered alongside them rather than instead of them.
- Part of its disclosure is unusually honest. Its certificate library states in its own words that regulation and certification are different, that ISO certificates are not broker licences, and that neither a certificate nor a registration guarantees client-fund protection. Few brokers in this position say that.
- There may be no licence available to hold. Iraq has no retail forex framework, so an Iraqi broker genuinely cannot obtain a domestic forex licence. A firm in that position can reasonably point to its trade registration. What it cannot do is call that being licensed and authorised.
What would change this
What we would need to see to revise the verdict.
Specific, checkable things that would move this verdict in either direction.
- Towards legitimate: Myrtle appearing in the Iraq Securities Commission register of licensed brokerage firms, or publishing a licence from a recognised regulator anywhere, with a number that resolves on that regulator's own register in this entity's name.
- Towards legitimate: the firm removing the words licensed and authorised from its title, home page and disclaimer, and describing itself accurately as an Iraqi registered company operating without financial regulation.
- Towards legitimate: dropping the Central Bank of Iraq framing of registration number 30984, or publishing an actual central bank document that names this entity.
- Towards legitimate: renewed ISO certificates, or removal of the four badges whose printed validity ended on 24 May 2026.
- Towards legitimate: a body of verifiable client reviews over time showing withdrawals arriving as described.
- Towards scam: any regulator warning naming myrtle.ltd, myrtle.krd, forexiraq.net or this legal entity.
- Towards scam: credible reports from different clients, on more than one platform, of withdrawals refused or stalled, balances adjusted away, or any demand for a tax, fee or verification payment before funds are released. One well-documented demand of that kind would change this report sharply.
- Towards scam: enforcement action by the Iraqi or Kurdistan authorities against this company, which would follow directly from the positions they have already stated publicly.
Check it yourself
Official registers and warning lists. Verify every claim first-hand.
Iraq Securities Commission: register of licensed brokerage firms
The official list of brokerage firms licensed in Iraq. Myrtle does not appear on it.
Iraq Securities Commission: warning on unlicensed brokerage firms
The regulator warns that soliciting Iraqi traders through unlicensed brokerage companies is illegal.
Central Bank of Iraq
The only verification link the firm publishes. It opens the bank's home page and shows no entry for this company.
IOSCO investor alerts (I-SCAN)
Pooled warning lists of more than 150 regulators. No alert names this brand or its domains.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this broker’s safety.
Is Myrtle a scam?
Not on the evidence available. We found no reports of clients losing money and no regulator warning about the firm. What we did find is that its central marketing claim is false: it is not a licensed brokerage in Iraq or Kurdistan, because no such licence exists and it is absent from the Iraq Securities Commission register. We rate it high risk and unverified rather than a scam.
Is Myrtle a fraud?
No court or regulator has found this company guilty of fraud, and we are not alleging it. There is no enforcement action, no warning list entry and no fraud-related court record naming Myrtle or its websites. We do assess the risk as elevated, because the firm advertises regulatory status it does not hold.
Is Myrtle regulated?
No. Myrtle holds no licence from any financial regulator in any country. It holds Iraqi Ministry of Commerce company registration 30984, which is a trade registration confirming the company exists. That is not financial regulation and gives you no protection as a trader.
Myrtle says it is the only licensed broker in Iraq and Kurdistan. Is that true?
No. Iraq has no retail forex licensing regime, the Iraq Securities Commission register of licensed brokerage firms does not include Myrtle, and Erbil's security authority stated in April 2025 that forex companies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq have no official licensing. The claim cannot be true as written.
Can I withdraw my money from Myrtle?
We found no complaints about withdrawals on any platform we checked, which is a genuinely good sign for a broker operating since 2022. But we also found almost no verified client reviews either way, so we cannot confirm from independent evidence that withdrawals work reliably. Test a small withdrawal before building a balance.
Is my money safe with Myrtle?
Your money has no regulatory protection. Without a financial licence there is no compensation scheme, no enforceable requirement to keep client funds separate from company funds, and no regulator to complain to. If the company failed or refused to pay, your only route would be the Iraqi courts.
Who owns and operates Myrtle?
The operating company is Myrtle Company for Trade Brokerage Ltd., also published by the same operator as Myrtle Financial Consultation Co., Ltd., registered in Iraq under number 30984 since 19 January 2022. Its office is Office #16, 2nd Floor, AB White Building, Gulan St., Erbil. The site does not name its directors or owners.
How old is Myrtle?
About four and a half years. Its oldest domain, forexiraq.net, was registered on 20 January 2022, and its company registration is dated 19 January 2022. The two agree closely, so the firm is not exaggerating its history. The Iraqi commercial register answers searches only on paid written request, so the company date rests on the firm's own statement.
Is Myrtle the same company as Forex Iraq?
Yes. Myrtle is the rebranded Forex Iraq, and the site itself says 'formerly Forex Iraq'. Both forexiraq.net and myrtle.ltd serve the same website, with the same registration number and the same Erbil address. The former brand carries no regulator warning or scam history that we could find.
Is Myrtle a clone of another broker?
No. It uses its own brand, its own registration number and its own address, and it does not quote any other firm's licence number. A separate site at a Myrtle Brokers address is run by the same operator, not an impersonator: it publishes the same registration number 30984 and the same Erbil office.
What are Myrtle's ISO certificates worth?
Very little for your purposes. ISO certificates cover management systems such as quality or information security, not honest dealing or the safety of your deposits. All four certificates on display carry a printed validity that ended on 24 May 2026, and the company's own documentation acknowledges that ISO certificates are not broker licences.
What should I check before depositing with any broker?
Find the licence number on the broker's own site, then look it up on the regulator's public register and confirm the register shows the same company name and the same website. If there is no number, or the register names a different firm, stop. Also search the exact domain for withdrawal complaints rather than searching the brand name.
What do I do if I have lost money with Myrtle?
Collect your deposit receipts, account statements, ticket numbers and chat logs, send a formal written complaint to the company, and report it to the Iraq Securities Commission, which has said it files complaints against unlicensed companies. If you paid by card or a traceable service, ask your provider about a chargeback. Never pay an upfront fee to anyone promising to recover your funds.
What we recommend
The practical takeaway from everything above.
Treat Myrtle as an unregulated broker and size any exposure accordingly.
- Do not rely on the word licensed. Check the Iraq Securities Commission list of licensed brokerage firms yourself before depositing. The firm is not on it.
- Understand what you give up. With no financial regulator behind the account there is no compensation scheme, no segregated-funds requirement you can enforce, no ombudsman and no regulator to complain to. If a dispute arises your only route is the Iraqi courts against the registered company.
- If you still choose to trade, keep it small. Deposit only what you can afford to lose entirely, and test a withdrawal of a small amount early, before building a balance.
- Prefer traceable payment methods over cash handed over in person or USDT transfers, both of which leave you with the least recourse.
- Be wary of the referral funnel. Offers paying you $50 per friend, and onboarding handled through WhatsApp, are marketing pressure rather than evidence of quality.
- If you have already lost money, keep every deposit receipt, statement, ticket number and chat log, raise a formal written complaint with the company, and report it to the Iraq Securities Commission, which has said it files complaints against unlicensed companies. Ignore anyone who contacts you offering to recover your funds for an upfront fee; that is a second scam.
- If you want regulatory protection, choose a broker supervised by a tier-1 authority and confirm its licence number on that regulator's own register.
This is an independent assessment of risk, not a legal ruling. Scores and verdicts follow the Wikilix broker-safety methodology and can change as new evidence appears. Review scores are treated with caution when a broker’s reviews look manipulated. Last reviewed October 6, 2026. If any detail here is out of date or incorrect, or you represent this broker, please contact us.
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