Hi all,

Hopefully some of you here could provide some insights/clarifications/feedback to some if not all of the questions below:
1) Do I understand correctly that it's presently illegal for Malaysians to trade/invest in foreign currencies in Malaysia, unless it's only done via Licensed Onshore Bank (LOB) like Maybank, Public Bank or CIMB??
The answer is yes if Malaysian is trading with any unlicensed FX broker that operate illegally in Malaysia.
We trust most of the FX traders are trading with foreign FX brokers either onshore or offshore. Similar to stock trader who trade US or HK shares, anything out of this country, Malaysia do not have any restriction or authories to limit Malaysian to do any foreign investment or trading. Malaysians have to bear own responsibility & risks for trading/investing in financial instruments via overseas/offshore brokers /agents.

2) As a Retail FOREX/CFD trader/investor based in Malaysia, is it legal for Malaysians to open and fund own trading account via a Licensed/Regulated Offshore Broker (e.g. Pepperstone, FXCM, ICM...) and start trading foreign currencies, commodities and US indices/equities/CFDs on the broker's platform like MT4/MT5??
It is not a question of legal or not since the brokers are outside Malaysia. If the brokers are Malaysia unlicense firms, yes it is illegal. Malaysia has a law where Malaysian are allow to do any foreign investment. So the answer is yes, Malaysian are free to trade/invest with any foreign brokers. Same happened to shares trading, Malaysian are free to purchase any shares in US, UK, Swiss, Singapore, Hong Kong, there is no law restrict Malaysian from doing any foreign investment or trading.

3) If no. 2 above is LEGAL and assuming the source of funding of my above broker FOREX/CFD account is from a legitimate Malaysian bank/credit card account (in RM), can I then repatriate the profits earned from this trading account (in USD) back to my SAME Malaysian bank/credit card account without facing any issue from BNM for such transfer/transactions??
It's not about legallity since Malayisan allow to do foreign investment. Regarding withdrawal back to your Malaysia bank account, it's depend on banks, some bank yes, some bank no. You need to check with your bank. We have tried several banks with no issue but some experienced difficulty in getting their fund back using wiretransfer. Bank may request for proof of incoming fund like your trading account statement. It will be easier to use the brokers local withdrawal facility. May be they afraid of any potential money laundering issue like 1MDB.

4) Can Malaysians' FOREX trading/investing activities via the Licensed/Regulated Offshore Broker be declared as "foreign investment", just like we invest in overseas properties and US shares etc...., even if we're doing self-trading via our own FOREX broker account??
Self trading is also one type of investments, so the answer is yes.

5) If YES to no. 4 above, is the profit or capital gain repatriated from the said foreign investment TAXABLE under the Malaysian personal income tax laws? 
There is no tax on any capital gain for Malaysian.

6) Any other foreseeable risks or challenges in dealing with our local authorities as far as offshore FOREX trading/investing is concerned?
Not what we aware of. Malaysians have to bear own responsibility & risks for trading/investing in financial instruments.

In any case, I understand that we Malaysians have to bear our own responsibility & risks for trading/investing in financial instruments via overseas/offshore brokers /agents (regardless of whether these brokers/agents are licensed/regulated by overseas regulators/authorities) that are NOT regulated or recognized by BNM & Securities Commissions of Malaysia (SCM).
Yes

Please pardon me if this is the wrong thread to post the above questions.

Hi Whoopee71,

Very good questions! Please find our answer in blue.

Hi DrFX,

Thanks very much for your answers above!!

Meanwhile, with reference to your answer that there should be no capital gains tax on our "foreign investments", which can include our FX trading/investment with overseas brokers, let's imagine that I'm a full-time Day Trade with high frequency of trades weekly, and I may only withdraw my profit (if any) say only once a month.  In such scenario, then do you think LHDN would query me if I'm actually trading/investing for INCOME purposes (which will then be taxable I believe) due to my high frequency of trading transactions (as can be seen in my FX Monthly Statements), instead of just growing my capital from initial investment??

I just wonder under what circumstances a Retail Trader/Investor could prove to LHDN that we're trading/investing for Capital Gains and not for INCOME purposes.

Appreciate your further advice/feedback if possible.

Cheers!

Hi DrFX,

Thanks very much for your answers above!!

Meanwhile, with reference to your answer that there should be no capital gains tax on our "foreign investments", which can include our FX trading/investment with overseas brokers, let's imagine that I'm a full-time Day Trade with high frequency of trades weekly, and I may only withdraw my profit (if any) say only once a month.  In such scenario, then do you think LHDN would query me if I'm actually trading/investing for INCOME purposes (which will then be taxable I believe) due to my high frequency of trading transactions (as can be seen in my FX Monthly Statements), instead of just growing my capital from initial investment??

I just wonder under what circumstances a Retail Trader/Investor could prove to LHDN that we're trading/investing for Capital Gains and not for INCOME purposes.

Appreciate your further advice/feedback if possible.

Cheers!

I believe saving and retrieving Daily/Monthly Statements from foreign FX brokers via MT4/MT5 platform is usually not a problem at all, but the reason I asked about the tax issue was because I recently read this article shared by other forumer in another thread regarding paying tax for profits earned from bitcoin trading:
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/thew...-need-pay-taxes

I regard bitcoin as just another financial instrument we can also easily trade on most MT4/MT5 platforms like other foreign currencies too.  Anyhow, one of the points highlighted by the Tax Consultants in that article is how they believed LHDN would possibly distinguish a high-frequency trader trading for INCOME from an investor investing for capital gains only.  In other words, if LHDN sees the profits as income (regardless of us calling it profit from foreign investment or trading), then it seems to be taxable, otherwise it's understood to be tax-free.

So, I thought some of you here could have some experience/opinion(s) or different school of thought to share on this point too. 

All feedback are welcome!

Cheers!

Hi, my friend is using SamTradeFX, in searching for information i found out using WikiFX app that SamtradeFX is licensed with ASIC Appointed Representative,
NFA Common Financial Service,
Here i attach a picture, i dont know if WikiFX is legit or not

Hi Colt M4A1,

WikiFX is a paid advertisement site which operate like a mafia in this industry, if you pay, get good rating even you are scam, if you dont pay, they rate you badly. By the way, WikiFX is owned by China people. Try search Maybank and Public Bank, you will get the answer.

The only rating we agreed with WikiFX is their rating about TriumphFX.

By the way, SamTradeFX ASIC AR license has been cancelled by the provider after found they are running as a SCAM FX.

Thank you very much sire,appreciate that you took the time to reply,ima send it to him

I think most of them are busted, except some new SCAMs and TriumphFX which busted few times still manage to continue cheated innocent investors with beautiful lies.

Many are asking for more TriumphFX SCAM proof. We have many to share but is it necessary? Those scammer has all the excuses and beautiful lies for you. End of the day, it's depend on your wisdom or greed.

TRADES WERE OPENED AND CLOSED AT THE SAME TIME. CAUGHT BY ONE OF THE ELITE MEMBERS HERE. SCAMMERS CAN MANIPULATED OPEN PRICE BUT THEY CANT MANIPULATE THE CLOSING PRICE, THE CLOSED PRICE WILL BE REAL TIME. THUS THEY OPENED THE FAKE PRICE THAT FAVOUR THEM AND CLOSED IMMEDIATELY WITH FAKE PROFIT!!!

Hi, my friend is using SamTradeFX, in searching for information i found out using WikiFX app that SamtradeFX is licensed with ASIC Appointed Representative,
NFA Common Financial Service,
Here i attach a picture, i dont know if WikiFX is legit or not

Based on the article, it never mentioned any broker name but it seems like an offshore broker based in Belize. How can it be a legit broker? 

It's too late if you wait until someone is victimised. FDX Capital is a FX SCAM. It's doing fake trading with SCAM broker CP Markets.

Learn how to identify FX SCAM. Read the first page of the thread.

You're right, Belize, big big big red flag there. I just hope that people can stop going to these offshore brokers. Why can't they just stick to Tier 1 regulated brokers.
They are delegitimizing forex as a genuine source of income here in our country and giving a bad name to us bona fide traders.
All these scam cases are why until today BNM has never granted license to legit brokers like Oanda, Gain Capital, IG, Saxo and the likes. The more people that going for these scam brokers the harder it will be for legit brokers to enter our shores.
How nice if they are in here and we are able to deposit MYR. We can save so much conversion and TT fees.
I just hope that Malaysians that are interested in forex can get educated and not fall for these scam brokers so that one day forex brokers can be granted license by BNM here.

I hate it whenever newspapers censor the names of culprits.
How are we supposed to know who are the ones that we need to avoid if they keep the identity of criminals hidden.
Journalism is about being a public service for the good of society.

CP Markets ended the game with massive fake losses on non exist closed prices! Must be got hacked again.

Indeed.

Malaysia do not have the expertise and it will take a decade for the slow government to come up something for retail brokers. There are liquidity providers managed to obtain Malaysia Approved Electronic Trading Platforms (ETP) under Bank Negara including FXAll, Bloomberg, Matching and 360T. Probably it is more on risk management.