Risk scorecard
Each area is scored 0 (clean) to 10 (worst). Higher means more risk.
Regulation
7/10 · HighRetail accounts sit with a Comoros company on a tier-4 MISA licence. The FSCA and AFSA licences cover only an intermediary and a professional-only sister firm, and the former domain is on Spain's CNMV unauthorised list.
Identity & transparency
4/10 · ModerateReal, named companies whose register entries name directors, but the site names no owners and still lists a Port Vila head office although its Vanuatu company was struck off.
Withdrawals & conduct
5/10 · ModerateA handful of specific 2026 fund complaints (a declined withdrawal, a balance wiped after a spike, a deposit not credited). The pattern is unconfirmed and the broker answers publicly.
Reputation
7/10 · HighTrustpilot suspended the rating for a guideline breach and removed fake reviews. A regulator warning and a watchdog red flag weigh against a mostly positive Forex Peace Army record.
Website claims
6/10 · HighSells itself as a 'Fully Regulated Broker' on an offshore licence, still claims 'ASIC regulation' from a representative role that has ceased, and ties its bonus to 30 lots in 30 days.
Operational history
3/10 · LowAbout ten years of verified operation, first as ForexChief and then as xChief, but with heavy company and licence churn since 2023.
Who they are
A quick desk file on the company behind the brand.
- Brand: xChief, which traded as ForexChief until a 2023 rebrand.
- Legal entity: xChief Ltd, company number HY00923433. It is the sole operator of xchief.com and the company your account is opened with.
- Registered: Bonovo Road, Fomboni, Island of Moheli (Mwali), Union of the Comoros.
- Website: www.xchief.com, with the client area at my.xchief.com. The old domain forexchief.com redirects there, and xchief.org is a marketing site run by the broker.
- Only licence for retail accounts: MISA licence T2023379, issued 10 October 2023 (offshore, tier 4).
- Group companies: XCHIEF ZA (PTY) LTD (FSCA intermediary, FSP 54829); xChief Central Asia Ltd. (AFSA, professional clients only, xchief.kz); XCHIEF FINANCIAL SERVICES L.L.C S.O.C in Dubai (introduction and promotion only).
- People on the registers: Maxim Kuzmin, Artsiom Kirylau and Mikael Karamaniants (Kazakhstan); Maxim Kuzmin (UAE); Isaac Mosimanegape Prinsloo (key individual, South Africa).
- Offers: CFDs on forex, metals, indices, stocks and crypto on MT4 and MT5, leverage up to 1:1000, a $100 no-deposit bonus, trading credits, PAMM and copy trading.
- Not accepted: the site publishes no list of restricted countries. The United States is missing from the sign-up country list, but Spain, the rest of the EU and the UK are on it.
- Markets: versions in Persian, Dari, Pashto, Kurdish, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian and several Asian languages. Offices are listed in Port Vila (Vanuatu), Sandton (South Africa) and Abuja (Nigeria).
- Age claim: 'over 12 years', with a copyright line from 2014. Archived pages show the ForexChief site trading by 2015, and its Vanuatu company was registered on 29 September 2016.
Regulation
Who really oversees this broker, and what each licence is worth to you.
Proof of regulation on an official register: Yes
We confirmed this broker on a genuine regulator’s register.
Licences the broker publishes
Mwali International Services Authority (MISA)
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Found by our investigation (3) — the broker does not list these on its own site
Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA)
Found by us — not listed by the broker
Capital Market Authority, UAE (formerly Securities and Commodities Authority)
Found by us — not listed by the broker
Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC)
Found by us — not listed by the broker
Why we reached this verdict
How the evidence adds up.
The rating rests on an official warning, a weak licence for the company that holds client accounts, overstated regulatory claims and signs of review manipulation. It does not rest on proof that client money is being taken.
- Regulator warning: since 29 April 2019, Spain's CNMV has listed www.forexchief.com, run by Forex Chief Ltd, as an unauthorised entity. A rebrand does not reset that history. The same operation now trades as xChief, forexchief.com redirects to xchief.com, and the sign-up form still lists EU countries. None of the group's licences comes from an EU regulator.
- Where your account sits: accounts are registered with xChief Ltd in the Comoros under MISA licence T2023379. The newest public copy of MISA's verification page (16 February 2025) showed the licence active until 10 October 2025, and a record updated in October 2026 still lists it as in force. Either way, it is a tier-4 licence with no compensation scheme.
- A downgrade in 2023: the predecessor company, ForexChief Ltd, voluntarily surrendered its Vanuatu (VFSC) dealer licence on 3 November 2023, weeks after the MISA licence was issued. Its Vanuatu company was struck off on 10 March 2025, yet the site still lists a Port Vila head office.
- Overstated claims: the homepage promises a 'Fully Regulated Broker', and xchief.org, which the broker runs, still says xChief 'received ASIC regulation' in October 2024. ASIC's records show only an authorised-representative appointment under another firm's licence, and it ceased on 23 July 2025. xChief's regulation page links to no register.
- Reviews: Trustpilot has suspended the rating for a guideline breach and removed fake reviews. Some fund complaints give account numbers and amounts, but they are few and describe different problems, so they do not show a pattern.
- Arithmetic: the weighted scorecard gives (8x2 + 4x2 + 5 + 7 + 6 + 3) / 8 = 5.6, or 56%. Under our method, an official warning that names the operation's own domain counts as hard evidence and sets a floor of 70%. Confidence is medium because that warning dates from 2019 and names the former domain.
Evidence ledger
Every finding, with its source and how strongly it points.
E1Spain's securities regulator lists WWW.FOREXCHIEF.COM among unauthorised entities, in a warning dated 29 April 2019; IOSCO's copy names the operator as Forex Chief Ltd. forexchief.com was this broker's domain until the 2023 rebrand and now redirects to www.xchief.com, so the warning concerns the same operation.
Hard proofCNMV warning listE2IOSCO's alert network relays the same CNMV warning (ID 8172) under the category 'Unregistered/Unlicensed entity offering financial products or services'. It is one finding, not two. A keyword search for 'chief' returns no other alert naming ForexChief or xChief.
WeakIOSCO I-SCANE3The February 2023 copy of forexchief.com's regulation page names ForexChief Ltd., Vanuatu registration 14777, with a VFSC Dealer in Securities licence. forexchief.com now redirects to www.xchief.com and the site design carried over, which ties the old warning and history to the current brand.
E4MISA's verification page for xChief Ltd (dated 22 October 2024, archived 16 February 2025) shows status Active, company HY00923433, licence T2023379, issued 10 October 2023, end date 10 October 2025, website www.xchief.com. MISA's brokerage list, archived 28 April 2025, shows the same entry. The licence is real and in the broker's own name, but it is an offshore licence with no compensation scheme.
E5XCHIEF ZA (PTY) LTD, FSP 54829, company 2024/459493/07, trading name XCHIEF, has been Authorized since 25 September 2025 for Category I derivative instruments as an intermediary only (no advice). The key individual is Isaac Mosimanegape Prinsloo, and the physical address is 18 Cavendish Road, Claremont, Cape Town.
ModerateFSCA FAIS registerE6The broker's own regulation page says XCHIEF ZA is not the market maker or product issuer and acts only as an intermediary, and that accounts are registered with XCHIEF LTD (KM) under its MISA licence. The page links to no register.
ModeratexChief regulation pageE7Sister company xChief Central Asia Ltd. (BIN 250440900140), registered 4 April 2025, holds active AIFC licence AFSA-A-LA-2025-0012 for dealing as principal and agent and arranging deals. Its directors are Mikael Karamaniants, Maxim Kuzmin and Artsiom Kirylau, its shareholders Kirylau and Kuzmin, and its share capital USD 766,000. Its site, xchief.kz, serves professional clients and market counterparties only.
ModerateAFSA public registerE8XCHIEF FINANCIAL SERVICES L.L.C S.O.C, of Business Bay, Dubai, is active with Introduction and Promotion permissions only, and its director is Maxim Kuzmin. The regulator's notice states the firm is not licensed to broker derivatives contracts or spot FX.
E9ASIC data show XCHIEF PTY LTD (ACN 681 746 725) as a corporate authorised representative, no. 001312104, of Trade Prime Pty Ltd (AFSL 421246) from 24 October 2024, with status Ceased since 23 July 2025. ASIC's company register shows the company was deregistered on 8 October 2025. It never held an AFS licence of its own.
E10xchief.org is run by the broker: it links to my.xchief.com and loads its chat from fxchief-team.com. Its timeline still lists 'October 2024: xChief received ASIC regulation', presenting a representative appointment that has since ceased as regulation.
Moderatexchief.org About pageE11The homepage headline reads 'Trade CFDs with Confidence on MetaTrader with a Fully Regulated Broker' and claims more than 1,000,000 traders, while the company that holds retail accounts is licensed only by MISA.
ModeratexChief homepageE12Trustpilot marks the rating as unavailable due to a breach of its guidelines and says it removed a number of fake reviews. Of 140 reviews, 60% are five-star and 27% one-star, and October 2026 brought a run of one-line five-star posts from accounts with a single review.
ModerateTrustpilotE13Detailed fund complaints from 2026: MT5 account 185786 reports a trade closed at about $2,300 profit that settled at $631, followed by a price spike that wiped the account (April); a $5,365 TRC20 withdrawal approved on 2 February was followed by deposits and trades the client says were not authorised; a Nigerian client reports a bank withdrawal declined after profits (August); $15 of crypto deposits was not credited to account 578089 (October). Most other one-star reviews concern bonus turnover, slippage or support. The set meets 2 of 4 pattern tests (independent, checkable), so no pattern is confirmed.
ModerateTrustpilot one-star reviewsE14The archived Forex Peace Army page (3 June 2025) shows 104 reviews averaging 3.96. Withdrawal and deposit complaints from 2021 to 2023 were marked solved after the broker explained its return-to-source rule, and 2025 reviews report working withdrawals. On Trustpilot the broker answers most complaints, in some cases confirming a payout.
E15The VFSC revoked ForexChief Ltd's financial dealers licence effective 3 November 2023 on a single ground: voluntary surrender by a shareholder resolution of the same date. The notice gives no disciplinary finding. ForexChief Ltd is absent from the current VFSC dealer list, and Vanuatu's company register shows FOREXCHIEF LTD. (14777) registered on 29 September 2016 and struck off on 10 March 2025.
E16The ForexChief broker site was live in January 2016 with a 2015 copyright line, which later read '2014-2016'. forexchief.com was registered on 15 April 2010. xchief.com, registered in 2013, was offered for sale on a domain marketplace until at least May 2023 and has served the broker since late 2023. That gives about ten years of verified operating history.
E17Clause 9.11 lets the company cancel any transaction it considers contrary to its interests or the client's 'for any reason'. Clause 16.9 allows it to withhold or seize profits on suspected fraud, a USD 20 monthly inactivity fee starts after 3 months, and disputes go exclusively to the courts of the Comoros. The agreement does promise segregated client accounts and negative balance protection.
E18The $100 no-deposit bonus can be withdrawn only after 30 lots of turnover within 30 days. At most $100 is paid out, any further profit is deducted, and the bonus can be cancelled on suspected abuse. These terms are behind many of the one-star reviews.
ModeratexChief no-deposit bonus pageE19A financial-crime news site put ForexChief on its Red Compliance list in July 2023, after signing up as an EEA resident and finding that crypto and e-wallet deposits were possible before identity checks. This is a watchdog's opinion, not a regulator's finding.
WeakFinTelegramE20The sign-up country list includes Spain, other EU states and the UK, and the Client Agreement names no restricted countries. The solicitation behind the 2019 CNMV warning appears to continue.
The other side
The strongest case in this broker’s favour.
There is a credible case that xChief is a real, long-running offshore broker rather than an operation built to take deposits.
- The brand has traded since about 2015, first as ForexChief under a Vanuatu dealer licence, and it moved to the xChief name without a break.
- The Vanuatu licence ended through voluntary surrender, not a disciplinary decision.
- Every licence it names is real and in a group company's own name: MISA (xChief Ltd) and FSCA (XCHIEF ZA), plus AFSA in Kazakhstan and the UAE capital markets regulator for sister firms. None of them belongs to another company.
- The Kazakh register names directors and shareholders and shows USD 766,000 of share capital. That is more substance than a shell company would show.
- Many users report normal withdrawals, Forex Peace Army marks older complaints as solved, and the company answers most negative reviews in public.
- The CNMV warning concerns authorisation to sell in Spain. It is not a finding of fraud, and it is seven years old.
What would change this
What we would need to see to revise the verdict.
Any of these developments would move our assessment one way or the other.
- Retail accounts moving to a company licensed by a stronger regulator to deal with retail clients, or the South African company becoming the counterparty under its own licence.
- The CNMV removing the warning, or xChief turning away residents of countries where it holds no authorisation.
- MISA's register publicly confirming the licence beyond 10 October 2025 with a new end date.
- Trustpilot lifting its guideline-breach notice, and the ASIC claim coming off xchief.org.
- In the other direction, a cluster of refused withdrawals, accounts frozen with balances, or any demand for a fee or tax before funds are released would push the score higher.
Check it yourself
Official registers and warning lists. Verify every claim first-hand.
xChief regulation page
The broker's own statement of which group company holds which licence.
FSCA register: XCHIEF ZA (PTY) LTD, FSP 54829
South African authorisation, intermediary only.
MISA verification page for xChief Ltd (archived copy, 16 Feb 2025)
Shows licence T2023379, issued 10 Oct 2023, with an end date of 10 Oct 2025.
AFSA public register: xChief Central Asia Ltd.
Sister company licence, for professional clients only.
UAE CMA: XCHIEF FINANCIAL SERVICES L.L.C S.O.C
Dubai company permitted only to introduce and promote.
CNMV warning list: www.forexchief.com
Spanish regulator's 2019 warning naming the former domain as unauthorised.
VFSC public notices
Includes the notice revoking ForexChief Ltd's dealer licence after voluntary surrender.
ASIC company record: XCHIEF PTY LTD
Australian company registered in Oct 2024 and deregistered in Oct 2025.
xChief Client Agreement (March 2026)
Contract terms with xChief Ltd, Comoros.
Trustpilot reviews of www.xchief.com
Rating suspended for a guideline breach. Read the one-star reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this broker’s safety.
Is xChief a scam?
We rate xChief a likely scam risk at 70%. That is a risk assessment, not proof that clients are being robbed. The main reasons are a 2019 CNMV warning against its former domain forexchief.com, an offshore MISA licence for the company that holds client accounts, and Trustpilot's sanction for fake reviews. We did not find a systematic pattern of refused withdrawals.
Is xChief a fraud?
We found no court ruling and no regulator finding of fraud against xChief or ForexChief. What exists is a 2019 warning from Spain's CNMV that ForexChief was not authorised to offer investment services in Spain. We still assess the overall risk as high because of that warning, the weak licence and the review manipulation Trustpilot flagged.
Is xChief regulated?
Only weakly where it matters. Retail accounts are held by xChief Ltd under an offshore MISA licence from the Comoros (T2023379). A South African group company holds FSCA FSP 54829 as an intermediary only, and a Kazakh sister company holds an AFSA licence for professional clients only.
Which company holds my account if I sign up?
xChief Ltd, registered in Fomboni on the island of Moheli in the Comoros. The broker's regulation page says accounts are registered with this company even when the South African intermediary introduces you. Disputes under its Client Agreement go to the courts of the Comoros.
What is the MISA licence worth?
Little in terms of protection. MISA licenses companies on Mwali (Moheli), an autonomous island of the Comoros, and its licences come with no compensation fund and no independent ombudsman. MISA says its only official website is mwaliregistrar.com, so check licences there rather than on look-alike sites.
Does the FSCA licence protect South African clients?
Only in part. XCHIEF ZA (PTY) LTD was authorised on 25 September 2025 as an intermediary for derivative instruments, with no advice and no dealing as principal. It does not hold client accounts or act as counterparty, so the trading relationship stays with the Comoros company.
Is xChief regulated by ASIC?
No. ASIC's records show that XCHIEF PTY LTD was only a corporate authorised representative of Trade Prime Pty Ltd (AFSL 421246), from 24 October 2024 until 23 July 2025, and the company was deregistered on 8 October 2025. The broker-run site xchief.org still says xChief received ASIC regulation.
Can I withdraw my money from xChief?
Many users report normal withdrawals, and older complaints on Forex Peace Army were marked solved. A smaller number of 2026 Trustpilot reviews describe declined withdrawals, a balance wiped after a price spike, or deposits not credited. Withdrawals must go back to the deposit method first, and bonus money stays locked until the turnover target is met.
Is my money safe with xChief?
The Client Agreement promises segregated client accounts and negative balance protection, but no compensation scheme stands behind the MISA licence. If something goes wrong, your claim is against a Comoros company under Comoros law.
Is xChief the same as ForexChief?
Yes. The broker rebranded from ForexChief to xChief in 2023, forexchief.com now redirects to xchief.com, and the site design and services carried over. The earlier company, ForexChief Ltd. in Vanuatu, was struck off the register on 10 March 2025.
How old is xChief?
The operation is about ten years old. Archived pages show the ForexChief site trading in 2015, and ForexChief Ltd. was registered in Vanuatu on 29 September 2016. The xChief name, its MISA licence and the xchief.com site date from late 2023.
Who owns xChief?
The website names no owners. The registers of its sister companies do: in Kazakhstan, Maxim Kuzmin and Artsiom Kirylau are shareholders and directors alongside Mikael Karamaniants, and Maxim Kuzmin is director of the Dubai company. We found no public record of who owns xChief Ltd in the Comoros.
Is xChief a clone of another broker?
No. Its MISA and FSCA entries are in its own company names, and the MISA entry lists xchief.com as the licensed website. We found no licence number or company identity borrowed from another firm.
Why is xChief's former website on a Spanish warning list?
In April 2019 the CNMV listed www.forexchief.com, run by Forex Chief Ltd, among entities not authorised to provide investment services in Spain. The sign-up form still lists Spain and other EU countries, and none of the group's licences comes from an EU regulator, so the concern behind the warning remains.
What should I check before depositing?
Confirm that your contract is with xChief Ltd in the Comoros, read the bonus and withdrawal terms, and note that disputes go to Comoros courts. Start with a small deposit, test a withdrawal, and be careful with leverage of up to 1:1000.
What should I do if xChief will not release my funds?
Keep every receipt, ticket number and chat log, and file a written complaint under the broker's Complaints Handling Procedure. If the South African company introduced you, you can also raise it with the FSCA, and card payments may be disputed with your bank. Never pay an upfront fee to release funds, and ignore recovery firms, including one advertised in a review on xChief's Trustpilot page.
What we recommend
The practical takeaway from everything above.
If you trade with xChief, treat it as an offshore broker with limited protection and keep your exposure small.
- Check your client agreement. Your counterparty is xChief Ltd in the Comoros, not the South African or Kazakh company.
- Do not deposit more than you can afford to lose, and test a small withdrawal before you add funds.
- Read the bonus terms first. The $100 no-deposit bonus needs 30 lots of trading within 30 days, and bonus credit can be removed.
- Keep records of deposits, tickets and chat logs, and withdraw using the same method you deposited with.
- Never pay a fee, tax or 'verification' charge to release funds, and ignore recovery firms that promise to get money back.
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 24, 2026. If any detail here is out of date or incorrect, or you represent this broker, please contact us.
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