You might have already heard of TriumphFX, and there’s a good reason you haven’t heard many positive things about this forex trading platform.
TriumphFX, also known as TFXI, was an online forex trading platform that has now effectively collapsed following years of regulatory warnings and enforcement actions. The Cyprus entity that operated under the TriumphFX brand has been renamed to Shine Trades (CY) Limited, the offshore websites are largely inaccessible, and Malaysian police are investigating over $5.3 million in victim losses linked to the brand.
This article documents what TriumphFX was, the regulatory actions taken against it, the alleged Ponzi-style operations in Asia, and what investors caught up in the scheme can do now.
Is TriumphFX a scam?
Yes. The evidence accumulated over the past three years overwhelmingly confirms that TriumphFX was operating as a fraudulent scheme. Here is a summary of the key facts as of April 2026:
- CySEC enforcement action: In December 2023, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission suspended the voting rights of TriumphFX’s sole indirect shareholder, Chong Chun Hseung (held through CCH Triumph Cyprus Trust), and prohibited its executive directors, Christoforos Christoforou and Joel Prakash Benedict, from performing management duties for two years. CySEC explicitly stated that Hseung’s influence over the firm was “detrimental to sound and prudent management”. These measures have been extended multiple times – in July 2024 and again in February 2025 – and remain in force until TriumphFX is removed from the investor alert lists of regulators in Singapore and Malaysia.
- Cyprus entity rebranded: The Cyprus entity formerly known as Triumph Int. (Cyprus) Limited has been renamed to Shine Trades (CY) Limited and now operates under the ShineTrades brand (shinetrades.com), abandoning the TriumphFX name entirely. The CySEC license number 293/16 remains attached to this renamed entity.
- Offshore websites inaccessible: The main TriumphFX websites (including triumphfx.com and tfxi.com) are largely unreachable as of 2026, and the offshore licenses have been revoked or struck off. The Vanuatu license (FSC, number 17901) was struck off in May 2021.
- Malaysia criminal investigation: Malaysian police have received over 72 complaints from victims who collectively lost more than 23.7 million MYR (~$5.3 million USD) to a syndicate operating under the TriumphFX brand since 2019. The scheme promised monthly returns of 4-7% and operated similarly to a Ponzi scheme.
- Asian regulatory warnings (long-standing): TriumphFX and its associated entities have been on the warning lists of the Hong Kong SFC (since 2015), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (since 2014, again in 2021), the Indonesian OJK (since April 2022), and the Malaysian Securities Commission (since 2020).
The conclusion is unambiguous: TriumphFX should not be considered a viable or safe broker under any of its current or historical brand names. If you have funds with TriumphFX, ShineTrades, TFXI, ZFinances, or ZCD, we recommend filing a complaint with your local financial regulator and seeking legal advice immediately.
TriumphFX and CySEC
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is generally a respected regulator in the European Union. For years, TriumphFX held CySEC license number 293/16, originally issued in 2016 after the operators behind TriumphFX acquired a previously licensed entity (G.S.E. Golden Sky Europe Ltd) – a common pattern that allows new owners to inherit existing EU licenses without going through a fresh approval process.
However, this license is no longer being used to operate the TriumphFX brand. In December 2023, CySEC took direct enforcement action against the Cyprus entity due to the influence of its sole indirect shareholder, Chong Chun Hseung, and its links to the warning lists of Asian regulators. CySEC suspended Hseung’s voting rights (held through CCH Triumph Cyprus Trust) and prohibited the company’s executive directors, Christoforos Christoforou and Joel Prakash Benedict, from performing management duties for two years. CySEC has extended these measures twice – in July 2024 and February 2025 – and they remain in force.
Following this enforcement action, the Cyprus entity has been renamed from Triumph Int. (Cyprus) Limited to Shine Trades (CY) Limited and operates under the new ShineTrades brand (shinetrades.com). The TriumphFX brand has effectively been abandoned in Europe, and the offshore websites that previously targeted Asian investors are largely inaccessible.
Our original investigation in 2024 noted that the TriumphFX brand operated through multiple domains, with triumphfx.com targeting European investors under CySEC oversight and tfxi.com targeting non-English-speaking investors in Asia under offshore (Seychelles FSA) regulation. The domain split was a strategic separation of regulated and unregulated operations – one that ultimately could not survive scrutiny.
Warning signs
The warning signs around TriumphFX accumulated over nearly a decade across multiple jurisdictions, and ultimately led CySEC itself to take direct enforcement action against the Cyprus entity in December 2023. Below is the timeline of regulatory actions and warnings:
- December 2023 – CySEC enforcement action (Cyprus): CySEC suspended the voting rights of TriumphFX’s sole indirect shareholder Chong Chun Hseung and prohibited its executive directors from performing management duties for two years. These measures were extended in July 2024 and again in February 2025, and remain in force pending the removal of TriumphFX from Asian regulators’ warning lists.
- 2015 – Hong Kong SFC warning: The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), a well-known regulator in Hong Kong, placed Triumph Global (Asia) Limited / TFX Global on its warning list for conducting activities in Hong Kong without the necessary regulation.
However, the SFC was not the first to target Triumph Global (Asia) Limited. In December 2014, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had already included the same company in its Investor Alert List.
Furthermore, MAS had also taken action against Triumph International Limited, the company allegedly overseeing the subsidiaries, as Triumph Internacional (Asia) Limited.
The Indonesia Financial Services Authority (OJK) had also targeted TriumphFX or one of the subsidiaries of the company for engaging in illegal forex activities, including it in the register of illegal activities in April 2022.
TriumphFX Asia Branches: A suspicious modus operandi
TriumphFX’s business model in Asia resembled a pyramid Ponzi scheme – and in 2024 and 2025, this characterisation moved from “alleged” to “criminally investigated”. The company claimed that skilled traders and advanced algorithms generated its returns, but the promised payouts were unrealistic and unsustainable, and ultimately collapsed under scrutiny.
The Malaysia case: Malaysian police have received over 72 complaints from victims who collectively lost more than 23.7 million MYR (approximately $5.3 million USD) to a syndicate operating under the TriumphFX brand. According to Bukit Aman’s Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), the syndicate has been active since September 2019, promised monthly returns of 4-7%, and recruited investors via Zoom presentations. Several individuals connected to the brand have been detained.
Allegations of an MLM/recruitment-driven structure had been documented for years on Trustpilot (where TriumphFX received an average rating of 2.0 based on over 500 reviews) and in Malaysian investor groups on Reddit, but the scale of victim losses only became fully clear once regulators and police began investigating.
TFX coin
TriumphFX has also introduced a cryptocurrency known as TFX. This initiative was undertaken by TRIUMPH INT. (SC) LIMITED, which is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the Republic of Seychelles. But what exactly is TFX?
Based on our findings, TFX was exclusively launched in the Asian region, where the company operates somewhat dubiously with its subsidiaries. Launched in December 2022, the currency aimed to fuel the TriumphFX ecosystem.
In summary, the promise was that TFX would always be worth a minimum of 1 USDT. However, returns from investments earned in USD couldn’t be paid in dollars; instead, they had to be converted to TFX. What transpired was that, at the coin’s launch, there was a correction to its price, around 0.60 USD, far from the company’s pledge. The price surged, reaching highs of 0.93 USD days after launch. This increase may have been triggered by the major holders of the coin, which happened to be the company itself. This could have been achieved through a sudden increase in supply, but the rise wasn’t sustained because the TFX ecosystem didn’t add value.
This prompted many investors to desperately sell their TFX holdings, driving up the supply against scarce demand. Consequently, numerous investors felt cheated by the company, witnessing their returns being “swallowed” by a cryptocurrency without a foundation, created for the purpose of speculation in favour of its major holders.
Update (2024-2026): According to multiple investor testimonies, TFX holdings were subsequently force-converted into a new token called ZCD, with funds allegedly migrated to a successor entity called ZFinances, owned by MEXSUS Ltd in the British Virgin Islands. Investors report being told their balances would be locked for 18 months without prior warning. This pattern – migrating victim funds across successive offshore entities and tokens – is consistent with attempts to obscure asset trails and frustrate recovery efforts. We strongly recommend that anyone holding TFX, ZCD, or any related token contact their local financial regulator and seek legal advice rather than engaging further with these entities.
Products available
Is important to notice that TriumphFX seems to operate in different ways in Asia and Europe (with CySEC regulation). So, we decided to make a deeper review of TriumphFX (under the triumphfx.com domain authorised by CySEC).
The range of available products is quite limited, falling into just two categories: Forex and Precious Metals.
On the Forex side, you can trade over 60 currency pairs. However, more than half of them are restricted to a select group of clients (VIP clients). The leverage offered is up to 1:100, with leverage above 1:100 available on-demand and subject to specific Equity Maintenance Requirements.
The trades are executed using Ctrader, a reliable platform. It’s important to note that CTrader is not responsible for any potential misconduct by TriumphFX.
When it comes to Precious Metals, TriumphFX enables investors to trade Gold and Silver against USD. For this category of investment, the company uses the same criteria for leverage and utilises the CTrader platform to execute trades.
| TriumphFX Cyprus | Forex | Precious Metals |
| Leverage | 1:30 up to 1:100 (depending on expertise) | 1:30 up to 1:100 (depending on expertise) |
Fees
| TriumphFX Fees | |
| Spread on Forex | From 0.1 to 4.9 (for major pairs) |
| Spread on Precious Metals | 1.7 (minimum) |
| Currency Conversion Fees | Non-Disclosure |
| Deposit Fees | $0 |
| Withdraw Fees | No commission for Bank Wire (up to $12 for other methods) |
The withdrawal fee structure is somewhat complex because you don’t pay any commission when withdrawing money via bank wire. However, if you withdraw through Visa or Mastercard, you may incur a fee of up to 3 USD (or 2 EUR/GBP) with no specified amount limit. On the other hand, opting for Neteller or Skrill will result in a 1% commission, with a maximum withdrawal limit of 12,000 USD/EUR/GBP. This equates to a maximum fee of 12 USD/EUR/GBP.
Safety
This is a controversial point, as we have demonstrated throughout the rest of the article. However, it is important to note that TriumphFX Cyprus is regulated, and the company must adhere to strict guidelines to maintain this regulation. Because of this, clients are provided with a considerable level of safety. However, we do not recommend investors trust the company as they typically would with a broker authorized by FCA, SEC, and other top-tier regulators.
Nevertheless, it is important to mention that TriumphFX is obligated to segregate investor funds from the company’s own funds, providing a higher level of security compared to a situation where this doesn’t exist. This means that in the case of bankruptcy of the firm, your funds will remain safe in a segregated account, in accordance with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission client funds regulations.
In addition to the protection mentioned above, TriumphFX Cyprus is also covered by the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF), a Cyprus investor compensation fund working in conjunction with CySEC. The ICF guarantees compensation payments of up to €20,000 to clients of TriumphFX Cyprus in the event of insolvency.
It is important to note that these types of protections do not extend to TriumphFX subsidiaries operating outside the European Union. Therefore, if you plan to open an account in the Asian region, please be aware that TriumphFX likely operates there under the FSA regulation, which is not as strict as CySEC and does not require brokers to follow funds segregation or include a compensation fund. However, TriumphFX states on its website that it takes measures to ensure clear segregation between the funds of the clients and those of the company.
Demo account
We attempted to open a demo account to showcase the platform and execute some trades. Unfortunately, we encountered issues as the demo account did not function as expected, as evidenced in the screenshot below. This constitutes another significant drawback for the platform, further contributing to the existing trust issues.
TriumphFX alternatives
Given that TriumphFX has effectively ceased operations and is the subject of regulatory enforcement and criminal investigations, choosing a properly regulated alternative is essential – not optional.
Below are three brokers regulated by top-tier authorities (FCA, ASIC, CySEC, and others) that offer Forex and CFD trading with the safety standards that TriumphFX failed to deliver:
69-80% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
80% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Bottom line
TriumphFX is no longer a viable broker. What our 2024 review described as a “company with serious warning signs” has, by 2026, fully materialised as a confirmed regulatory failure:
- CySEC took enforcement action against the Cyprus entity in December 2023, suspending shareholder voting rights and banning executive directors from management duties. These measures have been extended twice and remain in force.
- The Cyprus entity has been renamed to Shine Trades (CY) Limited and operates under the new ShineTrades brand, abandoning the TriumphFX name entirely.
- The main TriumphFX websites are largely inaccessible and offshore licenses have been revoked or struck off.
- Malaysian police are investigating losses of over $5.3 million across more than 72 victim complaints, with detentions linked to the brand.
- Investor funds were allegedly migrated through successive tokens (TFX → ZCD) and entities (ZFinances, MEXSUS Ltd in BVI), in a pattern consistent with obstructing recovery.
Our recommendation is unambiguous: do not open an account with TriumphFX, ShineTrades, or any associated brand. If you already have funds with these entities, contact your local financial regulator and seek legal advice immediately. The alternatives listed above (Interactive Brokers, XTB, and Plus500) are regulated by top-tier authorities and provide the safety standards that TriumphFX failed to deliver.
