Updates, Bans, Warnings, New Laws, Mergers and Closures
Israel Cracks Down Again
Last year in an industry shaking move the Israeli government banned the marketing of binary options to its citizens by … its citizens. This year it has begun to take action again, moving to ban the marketing of binary options to citizens of foreign lands by Israeli nationals and from within the countries borders. The reason is simple if a bit misguided. Regulators and politicians alike are afraid of the possibility of fraud and so are taking no chances.
The law has been put forth by a coalition of agencies including the financial regulator but has yet to pass parliament. The proposed ban will have to go through 3 readings before passage, based on last years results it is likely to pass. What this trader finds funny is Israel’s focus. Both the old and new law are targeted at Israeli based brokers marketing binary options without regulation (there is no binary regulation in Israel) which seems like a backhanded admission that their nation is home to many unregulated and fraudulent binary options scams. The fact that so many unregulated brokers and services have shut down over the past year may be coincidental but I think not.
Anyoption To Merge
Binary options pioneer Anyoption has announced plans to merge with Invest.com. Invest.com is a portfolio management and forex trading platform regulated and licensed by CySEC as a CIF. The firm is licensed to operate as a cross-border management firm and is registered with each individual EU member nation, bound by the MiFID and covered by the Investors Compensation Fund. The reason for the merger is two-fold. The first is to achieve regulatory and operational synergies beneficial to both businesses, the second is to help Anyoption reach a wider audience. The two businesses will merge under the Invest.com name and continue to operate as is.
The FCA Stepping Up To The Plate
The British FCA has begun to step up its game against the unregulated brokers. Since taking over the role of binary options regulator it has taken steps to warn the public against unregulated brokers and fraud. The latest warning is against CapitalMarketsBanc which has made claims to be headquartered in the UK. The FCA says otherwise and alleges the broker is soliciting UK clients regardless. The broker is owned and operated by Joshua Consulting LTD which is registered in Dominica. Along with the warning the FCA also warned against clone firm BlackRock Asset Management UK LTD which is not associated with Blackrock or licensed to operate in the UK.
Going Out Of Business
The final story of the week is a sad tale. Long-time operator Leadtrade is going out of business. Well, its binary options arm is anyway. The company has willingly given up its CySEC license and CIF designation after shutting down its brokerages. Among the brands operated by Leadtrade are Topoption, PrestigeOption and OptionsClick which have all been removed from the Internet. The company will be required to satisfy it’s clients and any complaints that may arise, a process that will be overseen by CySEC officials. Leadtrade is going out of business