Public Announcements
FundedNext - RBI Announcements
Inclusion of FundedNext (www.fundednext.com) to Central Bank of India’s investors alert list.
On the 22nd of October 2024, and according to the Central Bank of India (the “RBI”), FundedNext (the “Company”) was added to RBI’s ‘Alert List’. This inclusion, as per RBI, included investment services that are not authorized to operate electronic trading platforms (ETP) for forex transactions under the Electronic Trading Platforms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018. The particular list, as per RBI, also contains the names of entities/platforms/websites which appear to be promoting unauthorised entities/ETPs, including through advertisements of such unauthorized entities or claiming to the providing training/advisory services.
The inclusion of our Company to the RBI’s alert list, was done in error, since the Company does not have any activity in India. It is important to note that the inclusion of the Company in the RBI’s Alert List does not imply any penalties or prohibitions of the business activities of companies included in the list.
The main aim of the list, is of an informative nature addressed to the citizens of India for the purpose of informing them about possible risks involved in cooperation with companies that are not supervised directly by the RBI. In this respect, the purpose of the list is to alert Indian citizens that, if an Indian citizen engages with a foreign company, such citizen loses the protection granted to him/her by Indian regulatory authorities as foreign companies are subject to their local regulations. As a consequence, this also means that, in case of any dispute, the Indian citizen would be required to file a complaint with the foreign firm’s regulatory authority. Therefore, the alert list does not implicate any legal risks but it does have a reputational impact.
In conclusion, the inclusion of FundedNext in the Reserve Bank of India’s Alert List appears to have resulted from a factual inaccuracy, as the Company does not conduct, solicit, or offer any financial or investment services within the territory of India. The said inclusion does not constitute, nor does it imply, any finding of wrongdoing, breach of regulatory requirements, or the imposition of any sanctions or prohibitions by the Reserve Bank of India. FundedNext continues to operate in full compliance with the legal and regulatory framework applicable to its jurisdiction of establishment and remains committed to adhering to the highest standards of regulatory compliance, governance, and ethical business conduct. The Company has taken appropriate steps to formally communicate with the relevant authorities to rectify the record and mitigate any potential reputational impact arising from this inadvertent inclusion.
In line with our commitment to transparency and regulatory compliance, FundedNext has sought and obtained a formal legal opinion from Indian counsel concerning its inclusion in the RBI’s Alert List. The opinion provides an independent legal analysis of the matter and supports the Company’s position that such inclusion was erroneous and does not reflect any violation of Indian or international financial regulations. The legal opinion is attached below.