Global Regulator Warnings: Canada, Italy, UK, Australia and South Africa
Binary options watchdogs around the globe have increased their efforts to warn potential clients about the dangers of investing with brokerages that are suspicious or not authorized in the region where they operate. This is good news for us traders because once regulators start squeezing, the brokers will have either to seek regulation or stop doing business. Next we will take a look at the companies that have been warned by regulatory bodies, categorized by region.
Canada Gets Chilly For Unauthorized Brokers
The largest financial regulator in Canada is the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). They have warned about three brokerages that operate without licence and may pose a risk for investors: WinOptions, (operated by SAL Ltd.), BigOption (operated by Wirestech Limited) and OptionRidge (operated by Mountain Rider Ltd.). If you are a Canadian resident, we recommend you heed OSC’s warning. Source and full article: leaprate.com
The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is one of Canada’s 13 financial regulators and they too have issued warnings against BigOption. This brokerage is now added to the regulator’s Investor Caution List. Source and full article: financemagnates.com
Italy’s CONSOB Warns Against Boss Capital
The Italian financial authority CONSOB updates its warning list almost every week and this time they have set their sights on Cheshire Capital Ltd, the operator of the binary options broker Boss Capital. CONSOB mentions that Cheshire Capital Ltd is not authorized to offer its binary options services in Italy. Source and full article: leaprate.com
United Kingdom’s FCA Uncovers Lies
Some brokers blatantly lie about their licences, claiming to be regulated by a respected authority when in fact they are not. This is the case with the brokerage Limited Binary, who attempted to mislead investors into believing they are regulated by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA confirmed that the firm is not authorized. Source and full articles: financemagnates.com, leaprate.com Note: At the time of writing (July 28 2016), Limited Binary’s website is no longer available in English, only in French and they no longer claim to be regulated by the FCA.
Australia Is Dealing With Unregulated Brokerages And Their Affiliates
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is one of the many regulators who are starting to crackdown on unregulated brokerages. They have recently issued notices to 40 unregulated companies, warning investors about potential risks and as a new approach, the watchdog is now targeting the marketing subsidiaries of brokerages as well as some affiliate websites. About half of the companies contacted by ASIC agreed to comply to ASIC’s requests, while the rest did not reply to ASIC’s contact attempts.
ASIC’s requests include removing references of Australia from the broker’s website, ceasing marketing campaigns that target Australian citizens, blocking access to Australian investors, adding proper disclaimers on the websites, closing down existing Australian accounts, etc. Sources, full articles and list of companies: financemagnates.com, mondovisione.com
South African Warnings
The binary options broker RBOptions was targeted by the Financial Services Board (FSB), South Africa’s independent regulator in its most recent warning. This broker was previously located in Canada and during the last 2 years, three Canadian regulators have already warned against it; apparently the broker has now changed location and resides in Marshall Islands. The FSB points out that RBOptions is not regulated and thus not authorized to offer its services to South African citizens. Source and full article: financemagnates.com