Bankrupt FX broker USGFX waves goodbye to owner of its UK division as he loses his investment
UK entity of belly-up FX brokerage USGFX has terminated company owner Mr Hein Soe Min as director, whose personal losses may amount to the tune of £814,000
Just one and a half months after troubled retail FX brokerage USGFX entered administration and had its license suspended by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), its contingent in the Northern Hemisphere begins to recede.
This week, Hein Min Soe, the Director with significant control of the UK division of Union Standard International Group, the holdings company that operates as USGFX, had his position terminated as per a filing at Companies House, the government organization to which all private and publicly held limited companies in the UK report.
Mr Min Soe was appointed Director in December 2019, and in April 2020, he was made ‘person with significant control’ under his directorship of the UK company, after buying £814,000 of shares in the UK division.
Mr Min Soe remains Director of USGFX’s Australian division, which is registered at G03, 135 Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with the entire company under the auspices of administration following its insolvency.
USGFX’s UK division was incorporated in March 2017, with Paul Inkster having left his directorship position at Shift Forex to join Walbrook Capital Markets, subsequently leaving to become CEO of the UK division of USGFX.
At this time, Mr Inkster was registered as Director of USGFX’s UK division, which was relatively short lived as Mr Inkster stood down in June 2018 and was terminated as a Director of the company.
Mr Inkster had joined the company with good credentials indeed. Prior to his leadership position at Walbrook Capital Markets which was was based in London following the consultancy’s opening of a London office in May 2015, Mr Inkster had been a Sales & Marketing Consultant at Integrated Publishing Solutions for one year, preceded by 5 years as Director of Barclays Wealth & Investment Management.
Having founded his own consultancy in September 2013, Mr. Inkster left Barclays to concentrate on his new venture.
Mr. Inkster then joined Walbrook Capital Markets represents a move back into the brokerage business, Walbrook Capital Markets being a London based FX and CFD company that was previously known as FXCM Securities.
Mr Soe Min took over the directorship of the UK division of USGFX in December 2019 after a few very short stints by British executives of the company following Mr Inkster’s exit.
Burmese national Mr Soe Min, despite being the owner of the company, has been silent during the woes that face USGFX, as has former CEO Shay Zakheim, an Israeli national residing in Australia who was previously very much engaged in furthering strategic partnerships, and was a regular attendee to conferences. Mr Zakheim resigned as CEO when the administrators took over in August 2020.
As is often the case with British Limited Companies that are owned by non-residents, Mr Soe Min has his address at Companies House as C/O Buzzacott Llp, 130 Wood Street, London, United Kingdom, EC2V 6DL, a lawyer’s office which is common practice, therefore it is very unlikely that he will be affected personally by any administrative action that could find its way to the door of the UK entity as he has never resided in the UK.
As FinanceFeeds has reported, back in December 2019, the Federal Court in Sydney issued interim asset restraint orders against Corporate Authorised Representatives of OTC derivatives provider Union Standard International Group Pty Ltd, trading as USGFX. ASIC sought the orders (pursuant to section 1323 of the Corporations Act) to protect customers while an investigation is underway.
On December 12, 2019, and December 17, 2019, the Court made orders against Maxi EFX Global AU Pty Ltd (trading as EuropeFX) and BrightAU Capital Pty Ltd (trading as TradeFred), both of which are representatives of USGFX.
