New Regulator Warnings. CySEC Suspended Imposter Licenses
Local Regulators Crack Down On Brokers, Fraud And Scams
The litany of warnings against unregulated binary options brokers continues. In this update regulators from around the world warn their citizens but the fact remains, a broker regulated in one country may draw the ire of regulators in another. Adding to the confusion are scam brokers cloning their sites off of other respected businesses and new frauds committed by scammers claiming to be “CySEC”. Thank goodness we’re here to help sort out the details.
New warnings have been issued by the BCSC, one of Canada’s 13 provincial regulators, Australia’s ASIC, New Zealand’s FMA, France’s AMF and the Hong Kong SFC. The common theme among them all is that the brokers are not regulated to offer binary options in their respective countries with no mention of the brokers status in its home country or region. The operative wording among each warning is that the brokers are not licensed in the respective countries, each of these regions allows and regulates binary options, just not unregistered unlicensed brokerages. Not all of the brokers on the lists are trustworthy but many of them are, the problem they face is the fact that they are indeed not registered with the appropriate authorities.
The Canadian authority added ThatSucks.com (former BinaryOptionsThatSuck.com)’s once trusted broker Magnum Option to its list, stating that it is not licensed to offer binary options to Canadian citizens. Australia and New Zealand both warned about FMTrader, a current ThatSucks.com (former BinaryOptionsThatSuck.com)’s trusted brokers, for just the same reason while Hong Kong’s SFC warned about 4 brokers illicitly offering trading services to citizens there. The broker that stands out among those listed by the SFC is Central Options, a broker who mistakenly cold called a member of a Canadian regulatory agency trying to get them to sign up for trading. Needless to say they are also on the BCSC list.
France’s AMF is the most prolific of all regulators issuing warnings with one major difference from other regulators, they focus on off-shore non-CySEC/non-EU regulated brokers. The agency just added 16 new names to its blacklist with the additional warning that fraudulent off-shore brokers change names and locales so fast they can hardly keep up with it.
CySEC Targeted By New Fraud
CySEC itself has issued a new warnings, not about unregulated brokers but about a new fraud in which scammers pretend to be authorities connected with the regulator. The scams use CySEC logo’s and contact information to impersonate actual regulators in order to defraud brokers and traders. One such fraud is the request for payment of taxes related to trading, a practice CySEC says they never engage in. The scammers are using email addresses like [email protected] and [email protected] along with others such as [email protected] which are not associated with CySEC or their officers. CySEC says that if anyone claiming to be representing them contacts you and wants you to pay taxes, transfer money to accounts they specify or asks for your financial information it is a fraud and you should in turn report it to them at [email protected]. Similar frauds have also been perpetrated by scammers claiming to be from Australia’s ASIC and the US CFTC. If contacted we recommend you verify any requests before taking any action.
CySEC Suspends License Of Air Finance Pro
Air Finance Pro has had their CySEC CIF license suspended for one month due to unsafe practices. Air Finance Pro was formerly known as YTF Trade Unlimited, the operator of binary brands Buzztrade, CFD Royal, Uptrade and Investing Area. The suspension is due to alleged violations that endanger client interests, the regular operation of the capital market and non-compliance with CySEC reporting and filing obligations. The company has one month to address these issues, if they are not taken care of CySEC will pursue the revocation of the license. While in suspension Air Finance Pro must list on each of its websites that its license is suspended, it cannot take new clients, it cannot accept new orders for trades, cannot perform any investment services in or out of Cyprus and cannot engage in advertising itself as a financial services provider. Existing clients can request to have all open positions closed and the return of all funds and profits.