Nowadays financial regulatory bodies are working more than ever to ensure investor protection – and that’s great thing, but only if you take the time to investigate whether or not broker is regulated. It’s not that difficult to tell either. They will usually let you know without you even asking. If you the broker is indeed regulated by a respected institution such as CySEC or AMF, you, the investor, can rest assured that the binary platform you are using is a fair broker. The beauty of financial regulation is it leaves scammers of the world without a place to hide.
Recently the list of binary scammers got even longer. In the past two weeks two major international financial regulatory bodies have taken action against binary platforms that operate in an unscrupulous manner. This is why it is super important that you make sure the broker you are using is registered. If not, you might as well say goodbye to that hard earned money you are depositing.
In late November, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission levied close to one million euros in fines for violations of that bodies directives. Included in the list of companies which were fined was, Pegase Capital Ltd. The binary broker received a fine of 300,000 euro for its violations.
Around the the same time the french financial regulatory body, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) – see below for more information, added 24 new websites to its list of blacklisted binary brokers. The AMF listed the address of each site saying, “no authorised investment services provider could be clearly identified.” and encouraging investors to make sure any brokerage firm is regulated before opening an account. The French regulatory body periodically updates it list of blacklisted brokers sites. The last time the AMF’s list was updated was in May of 2015 bringing the total number to 223 blacklisted sites. Following the most recent announcement the current total of blacklisted sites stands at 247.
If you not sure where to begin learning about international financial regulatory bodies check out our section on the subject: Binary Option Regulation.
What is Autorité des Marchés Financiers?
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) is the French body which regulates the investors and securities and instruments in France’s financial markets. It regulates, authorises, monitors, and, if need be, has the necessary power to conduct investigations and issues sanctions. In addition, it ensures that investors receive material information, and provides a mediation service to assist them in disputes.