SIB forex fund is compliant, regulator says
The market regulator has backed operations of SIB money market fund that invests in online foreign exchange and offshore commodities.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) said SIB’s MansaX fund is in compliant with the regulator, amidst claims that the fund’s huge returns of up to 24 per cent are suspect and risky without visible assets.
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The CMA Acting Chief Executive, Mr Wyckliffe Shamiah said the Money Manager license was granted in December 2018 to SIB, which is also licensed by CMA to operate as an Investment Bank.
SIB has been in operation for 25 years.
Mr Shamiah said the regulator has been monitoring the operations in line with investor protection mandate and the fund remains in compliance
"We assure all stakeholders including investors that the SIB operations under the Money Manager license are in compliance. We also undertake regular monitoring and surveillance of all licensed entities. We confirm that the compliance levels of the operations of SIB under the Money Manager license meet the standards,” Mr Shamiah said.
SIB chooses and manages investments prudently for its online forex trading clients and develop appropriate investment strategies.
The regulator said SIB communicates clients’ buy and sell order positions through a licensed online forex trading broker, to meet clients’ investment goals.
While online forex offers high returns, it is usually a very risky business with possibilities of making huge losses. SIB fund says it has leveraged forex with commodities, precious metals, cash and hedged with derivatives as a diversified strategy.
“The money manager conducts financial analysis and monitors foreign exchange portfolio investments on behalf of its clients,” Mr Shamiah said.
In addition to the Money Manager license to SIB, CMA has also licensed four non-dealing online foreign exchange brokers namely; EGM Securities Ltd (trading as FXPesa), SCFM Ltd (trading as Scope Markets), Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited, and Exinity Capital East Africa Limited.