Is Nova Securities Ltd a Scam?

When we at FXCanary sit down to judge whether a broker is safe to trade with, we do not rely on marketing pages or the promises a firm makes about itself. Instead, we build a picture from verifiable, public records: the regulatory licences a firm actually holds, the status of those licences on the official register, the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated, and any red flags such as clone sites, missing disclosure, or an absence of independent user feedback. Each of these inputs feeds into a Scam Risk Score, which in this case stands at 34 out of 100 — a level we classify as 'Guarded'.

A score of 34 is not an accusation of fraud, and we want to be clear about that. It is, however, a signal that a trader should proceed with caution and do their own verification before committing capital. The score is built from two notable findings: the firm holds a single CySEC licence that is marked as Authorised, and our records flag that there is no verifiable website or social-media presence beyond the official domain. That combination — a real licence but a thin public footprint — is exactly the kind of profile that warrants a closer look rather than blind trust.

Nova Securities Ltd is registered in Cyprus and holds a Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) licence as a CIF — a Cyprus Investment Firm. Our records list the licence number as 413/22, and we cross-checked this against the public CySEC register, which confirms the firm is listed as Nova Securities Ltd, formerly known as Banxso Ltd and, before that, XF Services Ltd. The licence status is Authorised, and the company registration number HE 415244 appears on the firm's own regulation page.

Being a CySEC-regulated CIF is meaningful. It means the firm is subject to the EU's MiFID II framework, which imposes conduct-of-business rules, capital requirements, and reporting obligations. It also means the firm can passport its services across the European Economic Area. However, we must stress that a licence is a floor, not a ceiling. It tells you the firm has passed CySEC's authorisation process, but it does not tell you how well the firm treats its clients in practice — and with no independent user reviews on file, we have no track record to assess that behaviour.

For a CySEC-regulated CIF, client money protection is governed by the EU's Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) and the requirement to keep client funds segregated from the firm's own operating capital. Under the ICF, eligible clients are covered up to €20,000 per person if the firm fails and cannot return funds. That is a genuine safety net, but it is not unlimited — and it only applies to clients who are covered under the scheme, which typically means retail and professional clients within the EEA.

In addition, CySEC rules require that client funds be held in segregated accounts with credit institutions or eligible money-market funds. This is designed to ensure that, in the event of the firm's insolvency, client money is not swept into the firm's estate. We also note that negative balance protection is a standard feature for retail clients under ESMA's product intervention measures, which caps a retail client's losses at their deposited funds. These protections are real, and they are a meaningful point in Nova Securities' favour compared with an unregulated offshore broker.

It is equally important to understand what the CySEC licence does not cover. Our records show that Nova Securities is licensed for reception and transmission of orders, execution of orders on behalf of clients, and ancillary services such as safekeeping, foreign exchange services, and granting credits or loans related to financial instruments. That is a fairly standard CIF scope, but it is not a licence to offer the full range of products that some traders might assume.

More importantly, the firm's own website describes its focus as institutional clients and high net worth individuals, specialising in exchange-traded products and OTC fixed income securities. That is a very different proposition from a retail forex or CFD broker. If you are a retail trader expecting a standard MT4/MT5 forex experience, this firm may not be aimed at you at all — and the protections that apply to retail clients under ESMA rules may not apply in the same way to institutional or professional clients, who are often deemed to be more sophisticated and are not offered the same safeguards.

Our records show that no clone or impersonator sites have been found for Nova Securities Ltd — a clean bill on that front, which is reassuring. However, we must note that the firm's name is not unique in the financial world. There are other entities called 'Nova Securities' operating in different jurisdictions, and our web searches surfaced several unrelated brokers with similar-sounding names, such as T4Trade, Milton Markets, and EGM Securities. None of these is connected to Nova Securities Ltd, and we have set them aside as irrelevant to this review.

That said, the absence of clones today is not a guarantee against future impersonation. Scammers frequently target regulated firms with a low public profile, because the real firm's name carries legitimacy while its lack of visibility makes it easier to mimic. We recommend that any trader dealing with Nova Securities Ltd verify the official domain — nova-securities.com — and check the CySEC register directly before sending funds anywhere. If you are contacted by anyone claiming to represent the firm through a different website or email domain, treat it as a red flag.

One of the most striking aspects of this broker is how little independent information exists about it. Our records flag that there is no verifiable website or social-media presence beyond the official domain, and we found no independent user reviews in our research. For a firm that has been licensed since 2022, that is a thin public footprint. It is not inherently damning — some institutional-focused firms operate quietly by design — but it does mean that we cannot point to a body of client experience to validate the firm's claims.

We want to be plain with our readers: the absence of reviews is not evidence of fraud, but it is evidence of a lack of transparency. In our experience, established and reputable brokers typically accumulate at least some independent feedback over time, whether positive or negative. The complete silence around Nova Securities Ltd means that a trader considering this firm is effectively flying blind when it comes to execution quality, withdrawal speed, and customer service — the very things that determine whether a broker is good to trade with in practice.

If you are considering Nova Securities Ltd, the first step is to verify the licence directly on the CySEC register. Search for 'Nova Securities Ltd' and confirm that the licence number 413/22 matches, and that the status is Authorised. Also confirm the legal name and note the former names — Banxso Ltd and XF Services Ltd — so you are not caught off guard if you see those names in old documents or correspondence. The company registration number HE 415244 can be checked against the Cyprus company registry as a further cross-reference.

Second, be clear about what kind of client you are. If you are a retail trader, ask the firm directly whether you will be classified as retail or professional, and what protections apply to you. If you are being offered professional status, understand that you may be waiving access to the ICF and negative balance protection. Third, never send funds to an account that is not in the firm's name, and always use the official contact details from the CySEC register, not from an email or a website you found through a search engine.

In FXCanary's assessment, Nova Securities Ltd is a regulated entity with a legitimate CySEC licence, and there is no evidence in our records that it is a scam. The Scam Risk Score of 34/100 reflects that — it is a 'Guarded' rating, not a 'High Risk' one. The firm has a real licence, a real registration, and a real office address in Nicosia, Cyprus. Those are facts, and we report them as such.

What holds the score back from being lower is the lack of independent verification. We have no user reviews, no meaningful social media presence, and no track record of client outcomes to draw on. For a cautious trader, that is enough to warrant extra diligence. We would not tell you that Nova Securities Ltd is unsafe — we would tell you that it is unproven, and that unproven is not the same as safe. Do your own checks, ask the right questions, and only commit funds you can afford to lose.