IM Mastery Academy has received a securities fraud warning from Quebec’s Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF).

As per AMF’s October 18th IM Mastery Academy fraud warning;

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is again cautioning Québec consumers about the activities of International Markets Live Inc., which is now operating under the name IM Academy.

As iMarketsLive, IM Mastery Academy and owner Christopher Terry were permanently banned from offering financial services in Quebec in 2016.

The AMF asserts that IM Mastery Academy and Terry are violating that previously issued order.

Although the company informs those with whom it interacts that it does not offer financial products or services in the province of Québec, [its] website … is accessible from Québec.

As to IM Mastery Academy’s business activities in Quebec;

IM Academy targets a young audience and promotes events in various countries through its social media. In addition, the AMF notes that a promotional event will be held soon in the province of Québec, specifically the Montréal area.

The AMF points out that FOREX is a highly speculative market that carries a high level of risk and is characterized by the widespread use of derivatives. Trades involving these types of products could result in substantial financial losses for investors.

IM Academy, International Markets Live Inc. and Christopher Terry are not registered to act as advisers or dealers under the laws administered by the AMF.

Offering unregistered financial services to residents of Quebec constitutes securities fraud.

As of September 2024, SimilarWeb tracked ~299,000 monthly visits to IM Mastery Academy’s website. 20% of IM Mastery Academy’s website traffic originated from the US, followed by 18% from Japan.

IM Mastery Academy recruitment in Europe appears to have collapsed following arrests in Spain, Luxembourg and Poland.

Outside of Canada, IM Mastery Academy has attracted regulatory attention in Colombia, Curacao and Sint Maarten, the UK, the US (CFTC), Peru, Colombia, Spain, Poland and Luxembourg.

In May 2023 it was revealed the the FTC had served IM Mastery Academy promoter Matthew Thayer with a Civil Investigative Demand.

Thayer failed to quash the CID and was required to cooperate.

The outcome of the FTC’s investigation into IM Mastery Academy remains pending.