Aoncfd (CLONE) - Central Bank of Ireland Issues Warning on Unauthorised Firm

What Changed

• - The CBI has formally listed Aoncfd (CLONE) as an unauthorised investment firm / investment business firm that is not permitted to provide investment services or operate as an investment firm in Ireland.
• The CBI has publicly identified Aoncfd (CLONE)’s websites, email address, and purported Dublin address to support monitoring and blocking efforts by firms and market infrastructures.
• The CBI has clarified that Aoncfd (CLONE) is a clone entity that has copied the name, address and foreign registration details (CONSOB Registration 5141) of Aon Solutions Ireland Limited, and that there is no connection between the authorised firm an
• The publication reiterates that the CBI will use its section 53 naming power under the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 to publicly warn about unauthorised firms.
• The notice reinforces existing expectations that firms, consumers, and intermediaries should use the CBI’s authorisations register and list of unauthorised firms as part of fraud and clone‑risk checks.
• By describing the activity as a clone online CFD trading operation, the CBI implicitly signals heightened supervisory concern around cross‑border, online trading scams using CFDs and similar leveraged products.

Suggested Considerations

• Firms should immediately screen client referral sources, onboarding records, and any existing or prospective relationships against the identifiers published for Aoncfd (CLONE) (names, URLs, email, and purported address) and block or terminate any exposure.
• Compliance teams should update internal fraud and financial crime watchlists and sanctions‑style screening tools to include Aoncfd (CLONE) and the specific URLs, email address and address cited in the warning.
• Authorised firms, particularly Aon Solutions Ireland Limited, should conduct brand‑misuse and impersonation checks (including web‑scraping, social media monitoring and domain surveillance) to identify further clone activity and prepare incident‑response plans.
• Client‑facing staff should be briefed via targeted compliance communications to warn clients about clone firms and to ensure they direct clients to the CBI’s register and unauthorised firms list when verifying any investment provider claiming an Irish authorisation.
• Firms should review and, where necessary, enhance KYC and onboarding controls to include explicit verification of a counterparty’s regulatory authorisation in Ireland (or relevant jurisdiction) and checks for inconsistencies between provided details and registry information.
• Compliance and risk functions should incorporate clone‑firm indicators into AML / financial crime risk assessments, including red‑flag triggers for online‑only CFD offerings claiming Irish or EU authorisations without matching register entries.

Key Dates

Who is Affected