YEREVAN, July 9. /ARKA/. On July 4 Armenia’s Central Bank officially notified relevant government agencies that the activity of Financial Trading House (FTH) aka Robert and Sons LLC, runs contrary to the Armenian law.

The Central Bank recalled today in a statement that last week reports in some Armenian media said that the Swiss Swissquote Bank launched its activity in Armenia through the Financial Trading House (Robert and Sons LLC) company. According to those reports, Armenian clients had the opportunity to invest in the Swissquote bank using FTH as intermediary.

"In connection with those reports, the Central Bank would like to inform that in accordance with the Armenian legislation, a foreign bank can carry out activity in Armenia exclusively through a Central bank-licensed subsidiary bank or through a branch (also licensed by the Central Bank)," the Central Bank of Armenia said in the statement.

Given the doubts that have emerged across the financial market of Armenia, as well as to avoid additional risks for citizens, the Central Bank informed that Swissquote Bank has no right to carry out any type of banking or financial activity in Armenia.

Besides, as noted in the statement, the Financial Trading House (Robert and Sons LLC) is not licensed by the Central Bank, and according to the Armenian legislation, it is not eligible to represent, advertise, familiarize or act as an intermediary of Swissquote Bank or conclude any transactions with it.

"In all likelihood, any financial transaction initiated from Armenia with Swissquote Bank and through the intermediation of Financial Trading House (Robert and Sons LLC) is illegal," the Central Bank statement said.

On June 2, the Financial Trading House that presented itself as the official representative of the Swissquote bank in Armenia said it began attracting customers from Armenia. Armenian Minister of Economic Development and Investments Artsvik Minasyan, who attended the FTH presentation in Yerevan, said Swissquote bank's interest in the Armenian market was an indication of its confidence in the country.

According to the minister, the Armenian economy would get access not only to new services, but also a possibility of a wider circulation of financial resources. He added that the move would increase the country's credibility and investor confidence.

FTH said earlier it would engage in raising funds and opening accounts with the Swissquote bank, as well as provide robots (automated trading system) that would earn money for their clients at the stock exchange. FTH promised its potential clients a passive income from 4% to 8% monthly.

However, two days later the Central Bank of Armenia recommends that citizens avoid using the services provided by the Financial Trading House (FTH) company in partnership with the Swissquote bank. The Central Bank said it conducted a study into the legality of the services provided by the company discovering that they were illegal. It compared FTH’s scheme with that of Forex technology urging citizens to refrain from using its services.

The Financial Trading House was established in 1999 and has become one of the leading companies in the global financial market. Since 2015, it has been providing intermediary services to the Swissquote bank. Swissquote bank is one of the largest Swiss online banks, which has about 300,000 customers around the world. -0-