Leadtrade CIF license renouncement: What is the future of Binary Options in Cyprus?


Is Leadtrade CIF license renouncement symbolizes step closer to the end of Binary Options? We talk with George Giannoulakis about Binary Options industry.

19 June, AtoZForex The Cyprus Securities and Exchange (CySEC) has published an announcement on its official website about the lapse of authorization of Binary Options broker Leadtrade. The regulator stated that the company has renounced its authorization on the 28th April 2017.

Leadtrade CIF license renouncement

The Cyprus regulator has announced that the Binary Options broker Leadtrade has renounced its CIF license. The watchdog stated:

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“…The CIF Leadtrade Ltd (the ‘Company’), which provided investment services via the domains

www.leadtradeltd.com,

www.topoption.com,

www.excellenceoption.com,

www.prestigeoption.com,

www.platiniumoption.com,

www.optionsclick.com,

renounced its authorization, pursuant to section 24(1)(b) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2007, as in force (the ‘Law’).”

Thus, starting from the above-mentioned date, the CIF authorization of Leadtrade lapses. The regulator has ordered the broker to settle its obligations arising from the investment services that lapsed. This includes any clients’ complaints. The regulator also outlined the specific period for the obligations to be settled – 3 months from the issue date.

Leadtrade has its license suspended back in March when CySEC suspended Dragon Options and 10 other brokers’ licenses. However, Leadtrade had its license restored in April.

Professional opinion: George Giannoulakis On Binary Options under CySEC

Following the Leadtrade CIF license renouncement, I have reached out to George Giannoulakis,  the founder and the CEO at InvestCor Corporate Ltd.  I have asked Mr. Giannoulakis about the future to the Binary Options industry under the CySEC regulation.

Kristina Frunze: “How you see the CySEC regulation impact on the Binary Options industry? ”

George Giannoulakis: “The general perception is that the Binary options business has an expiry date under the CySEC regulation.

Having said that though, there appear to be some rumors of it possibly moving to another regulator such as the gambling regulator but this is just speculation at this point in time.“

Will CySEC ban Binary Options?

This year’s iFX Expo, which took place at the end of May, was quite attractive with the vast variety of topics. Industry players gathered to discuss the following: Affiliate Marketing for FX and Binary Brands, Trading Technology, The Evolution of Payments, Forex trends by Google, Brand Awareness vs. Direct Response, Regulation, Blockchain and much more.

Moreover, some of the top representatives of Cypriot financial sector have shared their views on a modern financial world. The Chairwoman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Demetra Kaloregou, has also attended the event.

Mrs. Kalogerou has emphasized in her speech that CySEC is striving to ensure high quality and transparent investments across the market. She has added that CySEC is developing a special mechanism to scrutinize marketing and activate complex financial instruments. Mrs. Kalogerou has continued:

Players in the industry will have to decide if they want to play by the rules.

One of the groundbreaking comments from Demetra Kalogerou sounded as follows:

“We are considering banning binary options but we’re still consulting about it.”

Mrs. Kalogerou has outlined the main problem with Binary Options in Cyprus. Specifically, she stated that the conflict of interest and non-transparent pricing practices appear as the key issue within the sector.

Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below. 

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