France's Autorite des Marches Financiers placed Larson and Holz IT Ltd on its official forex blacklist on 25 July 2019, warning the public that the firm offers financial services or products without being authorized to do so in France. The notice names the company directly and links the warning to its trading website. More than six years later, the underlying problem the AMF flagged has not been resolved by any subsequent authorization. Larson and Holz still holds no license from a Tier 1 regulator anywhere in the world.
What Did The AMF Find?
The AMF's blacklist function exists specifically to catch firms soliciting French residents for forex or investment services while holding no passport, license, or registration recognized under French or European Union financial law. Being added to that list is not a technicality. It is a direct, government issued statement that the firm was operating outside the authorized financial system in that jurisdiction. Larson and Holz has never announced any corrective licensing action in response, and the company continues to market itself globally under the same trading domain named in the AMF notice.
Is Larson and Holz Regulated Today?
No, not by any authority with real enforcement power. The firm, registered as Larson and Holz IT Ltd out of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a jurisdiction with no licensing regime for forex firms, cites membership in two Russian industry bodies, the Centre for Regulation in OTC Financial Instruments and Technologies and the Commission for the Regulation of Relations in the Financial Markets. Neither of these organizations is a government financial regulator. Both are self regulatory industry associations without the statutory enforcement authority, investor compensation scheme, or supervisory mandate that a body such as the Financial Conduct Authority or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission carries. A firm can describe itself as regulated by an industry association and still hold zero government licenses, which is exactly the case here.
Independent broker risk assessments completed in 2026 confirm the gap has not closed. Reviewers checking the firm's current status found no verified regulatory license on record from any Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 government authority, flagging the offshore registration paired with an unclear ownership structure as a high risk combination. Client feedback aggregated across multiple broker review platforms centers overwhelmingly on one recurring theme: how long it takes to get money out of an account once a withdrawal has been requested, a complaint pattern that tracks closely with firms operating outside any framework that would force timely payouts.
What This Means For Traders
A blacklist entry from a G7 financial regulator is one of the more serious signals a review can attach to a forex brand, and it should weigh far more heavily than an old industry award listing from over a decade ago. The AMF's July 2019 action, combined with the total absence of any Tier 1 license today and a sustained pattern of withdrawal complaints, points to a firm that has spent years operating in the same regulatory gray zone the French regulator originally called out.
BestForex.io View
Six years is a long time for a broker to do nothing about a government blacklist entry that names its own trading domain. Larson and Holz had every opportunity since July 2019 to pursue a real license from a Tier 1 or Tier 2 authority and close the gap the AMF identified. Instead the firm has stayed exactly where it was, registered in a jurisdiction with no licensing regime, pointing to Russian industry associations that carry no government enforcement power, while withdrawal complaints keep accumulating. Traders deserve better than a broker whose regulatory story ends at a blacklist notice from 2019 with nothing since to show it was ever addressed.
About Larson and Holz
Larson and Holz IT Ltd trades as Larson and Holz, a forex and CFD broker registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The firm was founded in 2002 and cites membership in Russian industry bodies CRFIN and KROUFR rather than licensing from any government financial regulator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Larson and Holz blacklisted by a regulator?
Yes. France's Autorite des Marches Financiers added Larson and Holz IT Ltd to its official forex blacklist on 25 July 2019 for offering financial services without authorization.
Is Larson and Holz regulated by a government authority today?
No. The firm cites membership in CRFIN and KROUFR, Russian industry associations, but holds no license from any government financial regulator such as the FCA, ASIC, or CySEC.
Where is Larson and Holz registered?
The firm is registered as Larson and Holz IT Ltd in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a jurisdiction with no licensing regime for forex brokers.
What do client reviews say about Larson and Holz?
Client feedback across independent review platforms centers heavily on withdrawal delays, with complaints focused on how long it takes to get funds out of an account once requested.