Capital Markets Elite Group
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Honesty
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Cost
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Transparency
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Compliance with Securities Laws
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Summary
Capital Markets Elite Group is a Trinidad and Tobago based stock brokerage. Their claim to fame is devising a scheme that allows United States investors the ability to circumvent the PDT rule through a ‘shared account’ investment scheme.
The company claims that all investors are insured with SIPC insurance up to $500k. Unfortunately, the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) based in Washington DC has no relationship with Capital Markets Elite Group.
Capital Markets Elite Group is publicly offering stocks, Futures, CFDs, Forex, and derivatives trading through a shared account scheme with Interactive Brokers. All of this requires registration with FINRA, the SEC, the CFTC, and the NFA. Capital Markets Elite Group has no registration whatsoever, with any United States regulator — yet they are aggressively marketing to United States citizens.
TradingSchools.Org is currently actively involved in two separate whistleblower complaints with the SEC and the CFTC.
Additionally, the company has a sullied reputation for running a “get rich quick” penny stock investment educational company named Global Financial Traders.
This appears to be a regulatory train wreck waiting-to-happen. Avoid.
Pros
Clever marketing that employs masses of YouTube and social media influencers
A clever scheme to avoid the PDT rule
Cons
Appears to be breaking multitudes of United States Securities laws
Investors have no protections
The company refuses to name who actually owns the company
The company was recently fined by the Trinidad regulator for “non-disclosure”
Thanks for reading today’s review of Capital Markets Elite Group. What is Capital Markets Elite Group? According to its website, the company is an offshore stock brokerage, located in Trinidad and Tobago.
For those not familiar, Trinidad and Tobago is a tiny island located off the northern shore of Venezuela. In fact, you can basically paddle a float tube from the home office of Capital Markets Elite Group to Venezuela in just a few minutes.
The current dictator of Trinidad and Tobago is a person named “Weekes.”
Trinidad and Tobago suffers from relatively high crime rates. On average, there are typically about 500 murders per year — some of the highest in the third world.
Trinidad and Tobago also enjoy a robust “underground” economy. The number one illicit export, according to the World Bank is cocaine from Venezuela.
Another hearty export of Trinidad and Tobago are “romance scams” where horny old white men are routinely hustled in the hopes of marrying a local beauty queen.
Additionally, local “officials” of the Trinidad and Tobago “government” have been accused of rigging the national lottery for the benefit of family and friends.
For such a small island and tiny population, you really have to give the locals much credit for such creative handiwork, including employment scams, phishing scams, Ponzi schemes, pyramid scams, and money laundering.
Capital Markets Elite Group is likely breaking US Securities Laws
Capital Markets Elite Group specializes in catering to United States investors that seek to break US securities laws.
In particular, their “claim to fame” is in providing a mechanism where United States based investors can avoid the PDT rule.
In short, they heartily embrace the same set of rule-breaking that recently shuddered the now-defunct Bahamas based brokerage — Sure Trader.
Let me be very clear, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission absolutely abhors unregulated and unregistered offshore brokers. There is no doubt.
Offshore brokers that choose to cater to US investors, with the primary purpose of skirting the PDT rule are always a target. The only variable is WHEN the SEC or CFTC finally lowers the boom.
The question is never ‘IF’– rather the question is ‘When.’
But some readers may still choose to stuff their money down a financial rat hole, located in third world country. And I have to wonder why?
The High Costs and Fee’s of Capital Markets Elite Group
In the United States, every major brokerage now offers zero commissions with outstanding software, trading platforms, and customer support staff that actually pick up the phone.
Capital Markets Elite Group is the very definition of high costs and fees. For instance, each trade costs $3.95 to enter and $3.95 to exit. Nearly $8 per trade is 800% higher than TradeZero, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, ThinkOrSwim, or Interactive Brokers.
Additionally, Capital Markets Elite Group charges outrageous “inactivity” fee’s that effectively punish consumers for “not trading enough.”
In effect, Capital Markets Elite Group is punishing investors for abiding by US Securities laws concerning the PDT rule.
Capital Markets Elite Group wants you to trade, and trade often. This is the very definition of “churn and burn.”
Capital Markets Elite Group has no SIPC Insurance. They are not FINRA registered.
Capital Markets Elite Group plainly states in their promotional materials that each investor is also protected with $250k of SIPC insurance. This is a lie and plainly a fraudulent misrepresentation.
Capital Markets Elite Group is not a member firm of SIPC, in any capacity. I would recommend that investors please search the SIPC database of regulated securities vendors — you will find no Capital Markets Elite Group.
Additionally, TradingSchools.Org called the SIPC in Washington, DC and they were stunned that this company would make such a claim. They recommended that we immediately contact FINRA and the SEC.
Of course, TradingSchools.Org reached out to FINRA and enquired about the legitimacy of Capital Markets Elite Group. Once again, they were stunned to hear that this company is claiming registration status and SIPC insurance coverage.
Capital Markets Elite Group is NOT a registered entity with FINRA in any capacity. Please check for yourself.
Capital Markets Elite Group claims to offer Futures, Forex, and CFD trading
First, CFD trading for United States citizens is a potential felony for not only the broker but also the trader. This is a clear violation of the Commodity Exchange Act and Dodd-Frank regulations.
Second, any firm offering Futures, Forex, commodities, or swaps derivatives to United States investors are required to be registered with both the CFTC and the NFA or National Futures Association. And this is regardless of where the firm is located.
TradingSchools.Org checked the CFTC database and there is no broker/dealer registration or introducing broker registered with the CFTC.
TradingSchoosl.Org also checked the NFA database and called the NFA home office and confirmed that Capital Markets Elite Group simply does not exist.
Please check for yourself. Capital Markets Elite Group search.
Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission
Capital Markets Elite Group seems to make quite the spectacle that they are “registered with the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission.”
However, TradingSchools.Org investigated this supposed regulator and discovered that none of the five associated commissioners have any experience in dealing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
It appears that Capital Markets Elite Group is simply attaching “Securities and Exchange Commission” to their name, in hopes that it implies legitimacy or some sort of related standards to US securities laws. It does not.
Further, the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission website is a clunky nightmare of non-usability. Search functions do no work properly, documents that are purported “public” are not viewable, and email addresses were returned with “no such email exists.”
TradingSchools.Org was, however, able to eventually contact someone named JaJa at the Trinidad Securities and Exchange Commission. The communication was not easy. The local language is a mix of English and French and difficult to translate.
We inquired about the registration status of Capital Markets Elite Group and we were informed that the company had been recently fined $52,000 for refusing to comply with certain reporting requirements.
We asked what these reporting requirements were related to…they responded that the matter was related to the reporting of United Stated based investor accounts.
Apparently, they are required to report the foreign assets and account holders and this information is part of a cooperation agreement with the SEC or United Stated Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a negotiated and confidential settlement, Capital Markets Elite Group was allowed to pay a fine, and the matter was apparently swept under the rug.
Who is the owner of Capital Markets Elite Group?
This is a great question. Glad you asked.
TradingSchools.Org was certainly curious. And so we went through the complete process of applying for an account and submitting relevant information.
The final step in the account process is sending a bank wire to the company to fund a trading account. However, before we took the final step, we called the company and asked “who owns this company?”
Capital Markets Elite Group refused to answer this question. Instead, we were placed on hold for approximately 45 minutes and no person was able to come onto the telephone and provide any information.
We next called back. And we continued to call back — every day — for an entire week. We asked the same question…who owns this company? They flat refused to answer and eventually replied “maybe this investment opportunity is not right for you” and “maybe the opportunity to be a day trader and skirt the PDT rule is not for you.”
Perhaps I am the only person that finds it strange that the Capital Markets Elite Group “about” page contains no information on who actually owns the company, who runs the company, or who is responsible for the company.
Back to the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission
Obviously, any reasonable person would find it strange that a company supposedly regulated by the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission would not be willing to disclose who actually owns the Capital Markets Elite Group.
And so we went back to the Trinidad regulator and demanded that they release this information. We informed them that we believe that US securities laws are being broken and if they wanted to retain even the slightest hint of legitimacy, then they should simply release this information.
After much back and forth, the Trinidad authorities eventually complied with our request. Which was a total surprise.
Put on your seatbelt…because things are about to get strange. And I mean undeveloped, third-world, Nigerian prince sort of strange.
The owner of Capital Markets Elite Group is… (drum roll please)…
According to the Trinidad regulator, the registered representative of Capital Markets Elite Group is a person named Roshenda Ellis.
The regulator sent us a link, which can be viewed here.
As you can see, this person appears to be a “fresh face” in the securities industry and only recently became involved in the world of stock trading.
All of this seems to coincide with the fact that the Capital Markets Elite Group website has only been active since about mid-2018.
Regardless, we decided to dig deeper into the supposed “owner” or “registered person” of Capital Markets Elite Group — Roshenda Ellis.
During our investigation, we compiled all of the social media profiles and relevant information regarding Roshenda Ellis.
We then cross-referenced the social media profile pictures of Roshenda Ellis with the Facebook page of Capital Markets Elite Group and the Trinidad regulator confirmed that both are related and this is the person registered with the commission.
After reviewing the social media profiles of Roshenda Ellis, I not feeling very confident in Roshenda Ellis managing my investments. For instance, on her Facebook ‘About’ page, she declares:
well i’ pretty easy to get along with… i’m a nice person an i love to write poetry… so holla at me an we go chat… wrd!!!
-Roshenda Ellis (Capital Markets Elite Group)
i am a pretty girl wit a bright an awardin furture dat guys can’t keep dere hand off. i have a gud sense of humor buh i doh take shit. i have a short temper but a man worth gettin mad at will never get u angry. if u wanna find out more jes email me an we’ll see wat happens.
I wish I were making this up, but I am not.
Additionally, we have included a video that Roshenda created…
Once again, the person in this video has been confirmed by the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission as the registered representative of Capital Markets Elite Group.
Very strang. But wait, because it’s about to get even stranger…
Capital Markets Elite Group: More Strange Evidence
Another thing I found odd and disquieting about Capital Markets Elite Group is that the company claims to be housed in the largest and most luxurious office building in Trinidad and Tobago.
In fact, on their website, they display the following image…
However, in speaking with the Trinidad regulator, they gave us a different address. We Google searched the address and discovered what appears to be the actual physical location — a gloriously decorated shanty.
Using Google maps, this location appears to be located in the shadows of the larger building. Additionally, the Google maps satellite image of the street shows various stray dogs lying in front of the office.
Please also note that the Capital Markets Elite Group also shares the location with a business named Global Financial Traders.
What is Global Financial Traders?
Apparently, this is some sort of “trading education” company deeply intertwined with Capital Markets Elite Group.
Through a bit of research, and speaking with the Trinidad regulator, we discovered that Global Financial Traders is an unlicensed and unregulated “prop trading” company.
Apparently, Global Financial Traders wants to “teach you how to get rich” through the mysterious powers of “day trading” penny stocks.
The Global Financial Traders “prop trading and educational program” is also executing their trades through the same entity as Capital Markets Elite Group.
It would appear that Capital Markets Elite Group has a “master account” at Interactive Brokers. This is apparently being partitioned amongst and “shared” by traders at Global Financial Traders and Capital Markets Elite Group.
I believe what is happening — everyone that opens an account at Capital Markets Elite Group is simply using the same account at Interactive Brokers.
Additionally, I also believe that this “shared” account environment is also being used to fund the unlicensed and unregulated “prop trading” accounts at Global Financial Traders.
For your viewing pleasure, I have included a recent promotional video from the “master of education” at Global Financial Traders…
I dont know about you, but this makes me feel entirely uncomfortable.
This “video game kid” appears to be a really bad version of Ross Cameron at Warrior Trading.
Speaking of Warrior Trading, it appears that Ross is pushing a good portion of business toward Capital Markets Elite Group in the form of a “rebate scheme.”
Of course, Ross Cameron is not alone in steering clients to Capital Markets Elite Group. There are plenty of other online hustlers/day trading educators that are also pushing business to this illegal PDT scheme.
A quick search of YouTube also reveals a venerable army of shameless web promoters also pushing this scheme. After a little bit of digging, we discovered that the company is paying a referral fee to anyone that can push new accounts.
TradingSchools.Org reached out to FINRA regarding the legitimacy of this referral commission scheme, and they replied “any offshore broker violating SEC Rule 15 will ultimately face the consequences of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Capital Markets Elite Group appears to be a slow-moving regulatory trainwreck.
This seems to be confirmed because nobody at Capital Markets Elite Group wants to take ownership or responsibility.
The lady named Roshenda Ellis appears to be the unwitting sacrificial goat for this regulatory mess in the making.
Wrapping Things Up
Every few years, we seem to go through a phase where a bunch of these offshore brokers either mysteriously disappear with investor funds, or they are shut down by US authorities.
Personally, I have been in this game since the 1990’s and have seen dozens of these shady offshore “stock brokerages” come and go.
Its like weeds in a garden. These unregulated entities spring up in third world countries, with a cozy offer of skirting US regulations and consumer protections. The regulators usually let a few flourish and refill the garden with weeds. And then BOOM, the weed wacker comes out and they all disappear for a few years.
With the hardcore SEC takedown of Sure Trader, and the current investigation in Miami regarding Guy Gentile, I would expect a new wave of shutdowns to commence.
And when the SEC shows up in third world countries, the money usually disappears. I would expect the same with Capital Markets Elite Group.
Thanks for reading.
some other info after watching some videos on their fb: https://www.facebook.com/watch/gftfinancial/
you’ll see duke pollard give a presentation: https://www.facebook.com/555862427766219/videos/1227533383932450/ basic stuff, macd, buying when the macd crosses above the zero line and selling when it crosses below, that’s their buy and sell signal, he uses the word algorithm, but it’s really just an indicator. he has rsi there too, and of course some moving averages, all basic stuff. other videos like this one https://www.facebook.com/555862427766219/videos/1723436294342154/ you can see he’s using trade ideas, good software for scanning, a lot of people use it, he also uses e signal, good data provider, and well dastrader the green and yellow icon.
All normal stuff, not bad actually, but every one uses that, and are looking at the same stocks, and a little $300 us a day not bad, he must make some losses along the way too. but anyhow, just adding more sources to the info, good content as always
apparently this says Duke pollard is the director of cmeg
his fb: https://www.facebook.com/kristopher.a.sylvester
and
his fb: https://www.facebook.com/duke.pollard/photos
and this one says he’s the ceo dated apr, 2020 https://www.looptt.com/content/capital-markets-ceo-donates-500-hampers-footballs
another name in the registered reps is Sylvester, Kristopher,
as you can see Dwane Baird is one of his friends
dwane b’s fb: https://www.facebook.com/dwane.baird/photos
I’m just putting the pieces together as it’s better to be skeptical than naive. Always good to do thorough dd, so you’re not surprised if it ends up being a ponzi scheme just like suretrader.
and this one says duke pollard is the Senior Market Strategist at cmeg https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Duke-Pollard/-1485124181
as another user stated and many traders would state, once you pass that $25k with a decent amount of cushion, open an account with someone more reputable.
also some other people that work for cmeg (you might need a linkedin account to view)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-coonai-5178673b/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timon-olivieri-541ab993/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneil-spencer/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravel-griffith-68b9106/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrod-reid-18290aa8/
that’s all the tea I could find for now. good article.
Please be more careful in details m8 when providing information.
You point us that CMEG was fined for 52K dollars but according provided document it was Trinidad and Tobago Dollars which is 7695 USD only
>>1. Pursuant to section 156(2) the Respondent has paid to the Commission, an >>administrative
>>fine in the sum of Fifty Two Thousand Two Hundred Trinidad and Tobago Dollars
>>(TT$52,200.00), receipt of which the Commission will acknowledge;
Your link for registrant is broken. Here is correct one https://www.ttsec.org.tt/registrant-info/?reg_id=C125
as well as screenshot with registration address and it exactly same address what mentioned by CMEG, also it no any Roshenda Ellis in registrant name at all. Why you provide wrong name?
Actually I’m one of you fan… but…. something going wrong…. Looks like you trying to attract more viewers on you blog and not care at all what kind of information you provide. Hmmm shame on you……
Hi Oleg,
The link that I included in the article, referencing the $52k fine came directly from the regulators, the link is not dead, and it is dated September 19, 2018. Please check the link below, and the same link is referenced in the article…
https://ttsec.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/Contravention-Order-re-Capital-Markets-Elite-Group-Limited-fineTT52200.00.pdf
Now, regarding Roshenda Ellis, at the time that the article was published, she was listed as the Director. This was confirmed, once again, by the regulators. However, the document in which you are now referencing was created after the article was published. The evidence chain clearly connects Roshenda Ellis. The question is why? Why did they essentially use a person with no real experience or qualifications as the Director? Seems odd to me.
And finally, there have been recent enforcement actions against Interactive Brokers by the CFTC and the SEC regarding non-domestic actors using foreign partnerships. Examples below:
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-178
https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8218-20
In short, the “foreign loophole” is closing at Interactive Brokers. As I stated in the article, if you are going to offer securities to US citizens, or offer Futures trading to US or non-US customers then you must register with the US authorities.
Additionally, CFD trading is illegal to US residents. In fact, according to Dodd Frank regulations, its a felony. By packaging groups of US investors into offshore partnerships, and then offering those investors CFD’s is just a clever workaround, but eventually they will get caught. They always do.
And finally, Capital Markets Elite Group claims that individual investors are insured with $500k of SIPC insurance. Once again, this is not true. If you send your money to CMEG and your money disappears, then you will receive no relief from SIPC.
At its heart, CMEG is nothing more than a clever workaround that allows US investors to skirt the PDT rule. The scheme is promoted by sub-marketers and social media influencers earning benefits and commissions.
Hi, Emmett.
It no doubt about CMEG.
Just point some mistakes in article. Fine was in TT$ – 52K TT$ is 7695 USD. You do pretty good job. I follow u blog long time. The devil is in the detail 😉
Ah, you are correct! I apologize.
PRO = DMA Direct Market Access . If it’s a IB account obvious – but worth mentioning.
Someone just seems to suck at trading then… I mean you’re not smart enough to realize that the only reason to trade with them, as a US citizen, is if you have a small account and you are restricted by the PDT rule, and as soon as you get your 25k you, of course, take out you’re cash and put it into a US broker like Lightspeed. If you want me to be honest with you it should only take like 2 months max to hit 25k if you’re actively trading with somewhat of a decent strategy. Obviously yours isn’t though, so I would recommend you study up some more on a profitable strategy before throwing a hissy fit about a decent broker that can change people’s lives. I mean you’re basically complaining because you’re a trash trader with a terrible strategy that can’t profit off of a 4:1 margin… $8 a trade is not bad at all for a fast executing broker that gives you at least 4x leverage on most stocks. If you can’t profit off of that then you really need to update your strategy buddy… Good luck to ya
Thx for being thorough in your investigations.
The whole broker industry seems either corrupt or grossly negligent with how they operate and provide their services. It’s a disgrace. Lucky I came across this read. Took a bit of searching. Feels like Pepperstone has a lot of similar traits to CMEG.
Is there any ligit brokers out there?
For smaller accounts that are less active…either TradeZero or Robinhood are fine.
For more active accounts, I recommend Interactive Brokers. Why? At some point, you will need to add shorting stocks to your arsenal. Sure, you can short on many of the free brokers, but they have poor inventories. Do you really want to short Google or Microsoft? Not me. But, I like to short lower quality stocks which require more nuance. Interactive Broker is a good choice.
That’s beyond weird. Maybe I’m crazy, but entrusting your money with someone who thinks cheating on exams is a great strategy…isn’t a very bright idea.
Well if you need the skinny on KFC she’s your girl.
The whole situation regarding CMEG is just weird. The deeper I dug, the more strange things became. That ‘girl’ is a stooge for the organization.
I believe that the real “owner” is some character named ‘Rufus.’ And ‘Rufus’ daddy is well connected in the Trinidad and Tobago government.
But truthfully, who is really the owner of this company? Just pick up the phone and call them. Ask plainly, “who owns this company.” The response is laughable. Nobody will take responsibility.
Once again, breaking the PDT rule and accepting US investors is the “kiss of death.” The SEC will only sit on their hands for so long.
And, we also have to remember all of the US based brokerages that actually do follow the rules, pay the regulatory fees, abide by the regulators, etc. Do you think they are going to just stand by and let a bunch of islanders north of Venezeula eat their lunch? Not happening.
Man I could not stop cringe laughing while watching that video, it felt like I am living in an alternate dimension I mean are there that many under funded traders that have to go to the bottom of the barrel offshore brokers? I have an idea for all your under PDT rule traders.. SAVE THE FREAKING MONEY UNTIL AT LEAST 50k there are plenty shops in the U.S that you can pick from.
email me