Watch out for unauthorised investment product: SFC
The city’s securities watchdog on Thursday warned members of the public that a gold-related investment product currently available in the market is not authorised and may have breached laws. The product, which involves automatic trading systems that invest in gold contracts for differences, is named "EAsyGOld Trend" and "EAsyGOld Plus".  The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said the product has not been authorised to be offered to the public. According to section 103 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance, issuers need to obtain permission from the SFC to offer investment products to members of the public.  If they do not have the permission, they are generally only allowed to sell these products to professional investors via a licensed or registered intermediary. The SFC also pointed out that the product issuers may have breached the ordinance by carrying out unauthorised and unregulated promotional activities. The authorities said they have added the product onto its "suspicious investment products alert list" as it continues with its investigation.  "The public is warned against investing in any non-SFC authorised investment products," the watchdog warned in a statement.  "As these products are not regulated by the SFC, their investors have no or very limited protection and may lose all their investments. The SFC takes this opportunity to warn investors again to be cautious and skeptical about investment opportunities that seem 'too good to be true' and to stay vigilant when making investment decisions."