This circular FSMA_2025_05 (available in French or Dutch only) informs obliged entities on the contents of the information, and the modalities for their transmission, intended to be used to assess the compliance and the efficiency of the system they have implemented for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This information is collected by means of an annual questionnaire, which is an important tool in the exercise of the Financial Services and Markets Authority’s permanent legal supervisory powers in combating ML/TF.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Ekopak, ISIN BE0974380124, on Euronext Brussels is suspended on the request of the company from 31/03/2025 at 10:05 CET until the publication of a press release.

At the request of Mr Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Employment, the Insurance Commission issued an opinion on 12 March 2025 (DOC/C2025/1) concerning the right to be forgotten in consumer credit agreements.Read advice C/2025/1 (available in French - Dutch only)

This agreed settlement consists of the payment of 12,000 euros and the publication, by name, on the website of the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA).This press release is not available in English. Please consult the French or Dutch site.

The FSMA informs the companies concerned that it has incorporated the ESMA guidelines on stress scenarios under the Money Market Funds Regulation into its supervisory practice.Read FSMA_2025_04 (available in Dutch and French only); the ESMA guidelines are available in English.

 The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is once again drawing the public’s attention to the dangers posed by fraudulent trading platforms. These platforms lure investors online with promises of quick and easy earnings. Their offers look attractive, but often they are nothing more than sophisticated scams that can lead to significant losses.  How does a fraudulent trading platform work? (flowchart)Modes of contactFraudsters use various techniques to contact their targets. A fake advertisement in which a celebrity is mentioned; a website intended to 'recruit' victims;a fake profile on social media or on a dating app;a message that you have received allegedly by accident (SMS, WhatsApp, etc.). In each case, the platform tries to lure investors by promising them very high returns in an extremely short time, often well beyond the sorts of gains that are actually achievable.RegistrationInterested investors register on the platform and deposit funds to their trading account. Generally, investors begin with a relatively small sum, such as 250 euros. Sometimes the swindlers offer to help their victims by taking over their device remotely in order to make certain transfers on their behalf, which of course allows them to download viruses or spyware.Manipulation and pressure tacticsOnce the funds have been deposited by the victim, the platform manipulates the transactions to give the impression that significant profits have been achieved. However, these earnings are fictitious and the funds have not really been invested. The fraudsters then put pressure on their victims to invest more money. They do so by means of repeated phone calls, time-limited offers to which investors must respond quickly, or by issuing threats.Withdrawals seem impossibleTo gain victims’ trust, fraudsters sometimes allow them once to withdraw a small amount. However, once an investor wishes to withdraw a larger amount, the fraudsters use various pretexts not to have to pay back any money (high costs, taxes, etc.). In the end, the fraudulent platform disappears completely, taking with it all the investors’ money.The FSMA has noted that the following websites were putting consumers in contact with fraudulent trading platforms:Gas Folex (https://the-nft-profit.com);Immediate Apex (https://bitcoin-revolution.software, https://immediate-apex.com, https://immediateapexai.com);Immediate DexAir (https://immediatedexair.net);Immediate GPT (https://immediategp.com, https://immediategp.org, https://immediate-gpt.com, https://immediategpt.org);Oil Folex (https://gasfolex.com);Proficator (https://proficator.com). The FSMA strongly advises against responding to offers made by the following trading platforms:Aevo Limited (https://aevo.ltd);Agile Traders (https://agile-traders.com);AlgosOne (https://algosone.ai);Amibit (https://www.amibit.cfd);Apex Trade (https://apex-trade.capital, https://platform.apex-trade.app);Arbitrum Invest (https://arbitruminvest.com);BlingXE (https://blingxe.com, http://blingxeglobal.com);Cexcapitals (https://cexcapitals.com);CryptoAllDay (https://cryptoallday.com);CryptoLogicIQ (https://cryptologiciq.com);Curion Finance (https://curion-finance.com);Deal Markets (http://deal-markets.com);Finflex (https://finflex.org);Global CIM (https://globalcim.com);Guru4invest (https://guru4invest.io, https://platform.pltf-tchg.io, https://guru4invest.com);ICL Markets (http://iclmarkets.com);Innvester (https://innvester.com);KeyWealth (https://keywealthltd.com, https://keywealthltd.net);Link-Traders (https://link-traders.com);Market Makers (https://marketmakers.cc, https://marketmakers.website);Pexotera (https://www.pexotera.com);Platinum Stock (https://platinum-stock.com);Private Soft Solutions (https://privatesoftsolutions.com);Pulse Trade (https://pulse-trade.io, https://webtrader.pulse-trade.ac, https://pulse-trade.cc);QuantumWins (https://www.quantumwins.com);RIMCgroup (https://rimcgroup.com);Robo Global Markets (Clone) (https://cfd.r-globalmarkets.info, https://cfd.robo-globalmarkets.net);Six Digital Markets / Six Digital Exchange (Clone) (https://sixdigitalexchange.com, https://sixdigitalmarkets.ai);TheProfitSupp (https://theprofitsupp.com, https://theprofitsupp.net);VT markets (https://www.vtmarkets.com, https://www.vtmarkets.net);Xfers Capital (Clone) (https://www.xfer-capital.com).I’ve fallen victim. What should I do?Stop making any transactions and break off all contact with the platform: don’t deposit any more money and don’t provide any additional personal or financial information. Break off all contact with the fraudsters. They may try to manipulate you in order to take even more money from you.Contact your bank: inform your bank immediately if you have made any payments to the fraudulent platform.Report the fraud to the competent authorities: Contact the FSMA and file a complaint with the police.Document all exchanges of data and transactions: gather all evidence of your exchanges of data with the platform, including emails, messages, account statements and screen shots of the transactions. These items will, of course, be very valuable when you report the fraud.Beware of ‘recovery rooms’: fraudsters contact victims of a previous scam and offer to help them – for a fee – recover their lost money. Often this constitutes yet another attempt at fraud.For more recommendations on how to avoid investment fraud, please consult the ‘How to recognize and avoid fraud’ page on the FSMA website. Please watch our awareness-raising videos as well (available in Dutch and French only).

Young people between the ages of 18 and 25 would like to learn more in school about money matters. The younger generation is particularly interested in cryptocurrencies, but taxes, budgeting and investment are also at the top of their wishlist. These are findings from a large-scale study[1] among 1,000 young people aged 18-25 that the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) conducted in the framework of the tenth anniversary of Money Week. In the coming years, the FSMA will continue, via Wikifin, its financial education programme, to launch specific initiatives for this age group.This press release is not available in English. Please consult the French or Dutch site.  [1] Profacts, a market research agency, conducted the research using an online questionnaire. The survey took place between 24 January and 14  February 2025. 1,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels Capital Region were surveyed. 

Monday, 17 March marks the beginning of the tenth edition of Money Week. This anniversary edition sets a record, with more than 170,000 pupils registered to participate. European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque and Deputy Prime Ministers David Clarinval and Jan Jambon will attend the celebratory opening. On this occasion, the FMSA will present the results of its study on ‘Young people want to learn more about money’ and its future initiatives.Record number of pupils participateThe Belgian Money Week, which takes place this year from 17 to 21 March, is an annual thematic week organized by Wikifin, the FSMA’s financial education programme. During Money Week, the FSMA seeks each year to provide opportunities to talk about money matters as widely as possible and to devote extra attention to the importance of financial education.In the course of Money Week, a total of more than 170,000 elementary and secondary school pupils will participate in a variety of activities. That is a record, and represents an increase of 45,000 over last year.In elementary schools, pupils learn by playing the successful board games ‘The ABCs of the Budget’, ‘The Budget Game’ and ‘Just’in Budget’ how to manage a budget and that one euro can be spent only once. Many FSMA staff members go into the schools during Money Week to lead one of these games in class. In secondary schools, pupils compete with each other in the Wikifin Quiz, which tests their knowledge of topics like budget management, saving money, means of payment, and fraud. Wikfin is launching a new online game, also for secondary school pupils, called ‘Talking Money’, in which pupils familiarize themselves in a fun way with financial concepts.European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque and Deputy Prime Ministers David Clarinval and Jan Jambon to open the anniversary editionIn order to lend greater visibility to the anniversary edition of Money Week, the event will have a celebratory launch on 17 March in the Wikifin Lab, the FSMA’s financial education centre in Brussels. European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union Maria Luís Albuquerque and Deputy Prime Ministers David Clarinval and Jan Jambon will open the anniversary edition. The winners of the Wikifin Challenge, a competition for secondary schools, will receive their prize personally from the Commissioner.Maria Luís Albuquerque, European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union: “Financial literacy is a key priority of my mandate under the umbrella of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU). Drawing inspiration from good examples when designing financial literacy strategies will help us go further. In this regard, initiatives like Wikifin and Belgian Money Week stand out as positive examples, offering valuable lessons for all Member States to learn from. Knowledge is power and the key for the freedom to make informed choices about our finances.”David Clarinval, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Employment, Economy and Agriculture: “Financial education is an essential lever for a strong and balanced economy. By providing citizens with the tools to understand, anticipate, and make informed financial choices, we strengthen their autonomy and their ability to act. I welcome the initiatives that the FSMA has been undertaking for several years to raise public awareness and provide the necessary tools for responsible financial management.”Jan Jambon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finances and Pensions: “A good understanding of savings, pension funds, investments, dividends, interest rates, profits, losses, and so on is important to protect young people, especially vulnerable ones, against the increasing risks of advertising, social media, and scams. Financial literacy is crucial for young people who have to make ends meet on a limited budget. Where wrong or risky decisions often have very serious consequences. The Arizona government's coalition agreement highlights this ambition. I look forward to working with FSMA to further improve the financial literacy of our population with initiatives such as the Belgian Money Week.”Jean-Paul Servais, FSMA Chairman: “Over the past ten years, more and more youngsters between 6 and 18 years of age have been taking part in the Money Week activities. This record edition, with more than 170,000 pupils registered, confirms that increasing numbers of teachers are making use of the Wikifin materials and that financial education is attracting ever more interest. The FSMA will, in the years to come, continue along this path and expand its pioneering work in the area of financial education, with increased attention devoted in particular to the 18-25 age group.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017 Trading in the financial instruments of Roularta, ISIN BE0003741551, on Euronext Brussels is suspended from 14/03/2025 at 09:00 CET until adequate dissemination of the press release concerning the takeover bid. Trading will resume on 14/03/2025 at 11:00 CET.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017 Trading in the financial instruments of Roularta, ISIN BE0003741551, on Euronext Brussels is suspended from 14/03/2025 at 09:00 CET until adequate dissemination of the press release concerning the takeover bid. Trading will resume on 14/03/2025 at 11:00 CET.

This press release is not available in English. Please consult the French or Dutch site.

This handbook describes the reporting procedures to be used by Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision governed by Belgian law. Reporting by institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) to the FSMA can be split up into two main components:first, the reports that the FSMA requests in order to fulfil its task as prudential supervisor; these reports are referred to in this handbook as the ‘prudential component’ or ‘prudential reporting’;second, the reports that are intended to enable the FSMA and the NBB to meet their own reporting obligations to EIOPA and to the ECB respectively (under the terms of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurosystem); the said reporting is henceforth referred to in this handbook as the ‘European component’ or ‘European’ reporting.Read more in FSMA Handbook 2025_03 (available in Dutch and French only)

The FSMA is again warning the Belgian public against certain companies suspected of recovery room fraud. Recovery room fraud is a practice whereby fraudsters offer to help victims of investment fraud to obtain compensation for their losses or to recover their lost assets. Generally, the fraudsters contact their victims by phone or by e-mail. The FSMA has noted, however, that victims sometimes come into contact with the so-called ‘recovery rooms’ while conducting internet searches or via social media. When introducing themselves, fraudsters and their companies pass themselves off as law firms or accountants, and sometimes as police services or financial supervisors. The fraudsters do not hesitate to misuse the identity information of existing companies or official institutions in order to appear trustworthy.The fraudsters charge a fee for their services. Victims of investment fraud must pay the fee in advance. This is a clear indication that it is a recovery room. The payment is demanded, for example, allegedly to cover certain administrative or legal costs or to pay taxes. These are purely fictitious costs, however. In some other cases, fraudsters pretend to offer free services. The victim only has to give an access to her computer via a remote desktop application (such as Anydesk). In this way, fraudsters can install spywares on the consumers’ computers or access their PC-Bankings. Fraudsters also sometimes ask their victims to create and activate a wallet on a cryptoplatform. In all cases, fraudsters manage to steal money from consumers. Once the fraudsters have received the fees, they disappear without a trace and it is almost impossible to recover the amounts paid. The FSMA thus advises absolutely against responding to such offers.Companies operating unlawfully and against which the FSMA warns the public are the following:Bunkerwallet (https://bunkerwallet.io/)Financial Recovery Ltd or Financial Recovery Services LTDFiscor (https://fiscor.org/) G&P Consulting or G&P Consulting Group, or GNP Consulting or Goldman and Partners Consulting Group (https://gnp.consulting/ or https://gnpconsulting.cc or https://gnpconsulting.com) Krypton (https://krpton.bz or https://krypton.so or https://krypton.sx/ or https://krypton.ec/)Mrkt4trd (https://mrkt4trd.com) The FSMA recently observed that fraudsters usurped the names of several known entities to deceive consumers. The FSMA has received reports about scammers using the following names:Crypto.com or Subcryptob, namely using a website “https://supcryptob.com/”Payward LTDRefundeeThe fraudsters also impersonate public or control authorities in order to give consumers the impression that they are legitimate: either they pretend to be those official bodies; either they pretend to collaborate with them.***Victims of investment fraud are often targeted twice by the same fraudsters: first the latter perpetrate investment fraud, and thereafter, recovery room fraud. The persons behind the investment fraud may also sell their victims’ contact information on to other fraudsters. Anyone who has ever been a victim of investment fraud needs to be aware that fraudsters may target their victims again or sell their personal data on to others.How can you recognize and avoid recovery room fraud?If you have been a victim of investment fraud, we advise you always to file a complaint with the local police.Be extremely careful if you find an advertisement on social media or the internet, which offers to recover funds you have lost.If you receive unsolicited phone calls with an offer to recover funds you have lost, be sure to ask how that person found out that you have lost money. Reports of fraud are shared only with the judicial authorities and not with private companies.If you are asked to pay a set fee in advance, to access your computer or to activate a wallet on a cryptoplatform, don’t respond but terminate all contact.Financial supervisors such as the FSMA are not authorized to recover lost money and would therefore not take the initiative to contact victims of investment fraud.Would you like to enquire more generally as to whether a transaction being proposed complies with the financial legislation? Please use the search function on the FSMA website. You can also contact the FSMA directly via the consumer contact form.

This press release is not available in English. Please consult the French or Dutch site.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Nyrstar, ISIN BE0974294267 on Euronext Brussels will re-open on 06/03/2025 at 09:00 CET.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Nyrstar, ISIN BE0974294267, on Euronext Brussels is suspended on the request of the company from 05/03/2025 at 09:00 CET until the publication of a press release.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Smartphoto Group, ISIN BE0974323553 on Euronext Brussels will re-open on 05/03/2025 at 09:00 CET.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Smartphoto Group, ISIN BE0974323553, on Euronext Brussels is suspended from 04/03/2025 at 09:00 CET until the publication of a press release.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Biosenic, ISIN BE0974280126, on Euronext Brussels will re-open on 24/02/2025 at 09:00 CET.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, PUBLISHED IN APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 78 OF THE LAW OF 21 NOVEMBER 2017Trading in the financial instruments of Biosenic, ISIN BE0974280126, on Euronext Brussels is suspended from 20/02/2025 at 14:59 CET until the publication of a press release.