CySEC licence 226/14

It described its market as certain countries of the European Economic Area plus Switzerland, and named twenty-eight European Economic Area jurisdictions in which it held cross-border registrations. It stated plainly that it did not serve residents of the United Kingdom or the United States, that it no longer accepted new registrations from the Netherlands or Portugal, and, on its brand site, that Belgium was excluded.

The company's client notice directs anyone with an available balance to write to info@excentral-eu.com for the final processing of their funds. Keep a dated copy of the request and of your account records. If you get no satisfactory answer, the company's published complaints procedure runs through its own complaint form at mtnico.com, with escalation to the Financial Ombudsman of the Republic of Cyprus, which you must contact within four months of a final response.

The company stated that withdrawal requests are processed within 24 business hours and that funds may then take up to five business days to reach the withdrawal source. Money could only be returned to the source it came from and only up to the amount deposited, while trading profits were paid separately to a bank account or an e-wallet.

The published channels are credit and debit cards, e-wallets including Skrill and Neteller, and wire transfer, with no deposit fee charged by the company. Since accounts have been terminated these routes are no longer usable for new funding.

MetaTrader 4 only, offered as a Windows desktop client, a browser terminal and iOS and Android apps, with live and demo servers named eXcentral-MAIN Live and eXcentral-Demo. There is no MetaTrader 5 and no proprietary platform.

Pricing was spread only, with no trading commission shown on the account comparison. Indicative EUR/USD spreads ran from 2.5 pips on Classic and Silver to 1.8 on Gold and 0.9 on the two VIP tiers. A monthly inactivity fee applied after one month without a deposit, withdrawal or trade, and withdrawals beyond a per-tier free allowance were charged.

Up to 1:30 for retail clients and up to 1:400 for clients categorised as professional. Professional status required significant trading volume over the previous year, relevant professional experience and a financial instrument portfolio above 500,000 euros.

250 dollars or euros for the entry-level Classic account, rising to 2,500 for Silver and 25,000 for Gold. The VIP minimum was described only as discretionary, and VIP Diamond was open to professional clients only.

Mount Nico Corp Limited, a private Cyprus company incorporated on 12 June 2012 under registration number HE307717, with its registered office at Poreias 2, 3011 Limassol. The same company owns and operates the eXcentral and NicoFX brands, and the Cyprus Registrar of Companies records three earlier registered names against the same company number: Nico Financial NF Limited, Speed Capital Markets SCM Limited and TF Global Markets Ltd.

No. The company states that all positions have been closed and access to trading accounts has been terminated. The eXcentral brand site still shows Live Account and Join us Today buttons, but the client portal they lead to does not load a registration page.

There is no evidence of fraud. The operating company is real and verifiable: Mount Nico Corp Limited is registered in Cyprus under number HE307717 at the Limassol address it publishes, with named directors on the public register. The problem is different in kind: the company says it has given up its licence and closed client accounts, while its websites go on advertising a regulated live-account service.

No. Mount Nico Corp Limited held Cyprus Investment Firm authorisation 226/14 from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, but a client notice on its own websites states that it has renounced that licence and ceased offering its investment services and activities. Both sites still carry older text calling the company authorised and regulated under that number, which contradicts the notice on the same pages.