Israel ban is latest sector clean up
Israel has signalled a major development in the drive to distance the binary trading sector away from the practices that have tarnished its image in recent years.
The unregulated and largely unchecked binary options businesses in Israel are set to be the subject of a countrywide industry ban.
Israel Clampdown On Unethical Methods
Israel is home to online binary trading companies that have earned international condemnation for their unethical and sometimes illegal trading practices.
A new law has been approved by the Israeli cabinet to introduce a blanket ban on all binary trading in the country, to stamp out activities that are bringing the whole sector into disrepute.
Once it has been rubber stamped by the Parliament there, it will stop indigenous traders from selling to overseas clients. Unless they apply for a trading licence from the country where the clients are based.
Non-compliance will bring prison sentences that could be up to 10 years if the traders are using the industry to launder money.
This new piece of legislation is believed to have been stimulated by a series of complaints to Israeli regulators. This, after people suffered serious losses from the illicit activities concealed behind the façade of genuine binary trade deals. Israel has already become the first country to introduce a domestic ban.
Apple Reacts Too (Overreacts?)
This move comes at a time when financial regulatory authorities around the world are working to address the problems than can be created by unscrupulous traders and clients who have purchased options without checking credibility or credentials.
The iOS App Store has also recently taken bold steps. Issuing a mandate that apps which facilitate binary options trading are no longer going to be listed.
Apple is directing brokers, affiliates and signal providers towards web-based applications as an alternative. Whether Apple are competent to make such a call is debatable – tarring all operators with the same brush is not accurate or helpful.
In this increasingly scrutinised market, it is clear that anyone developing a binary option strategy needs to “shop around” for brokers who are licensed and regulated. This will reinforce the drive to strangle the more unscrupulous individuals and organisations who have been riding the wave of interest in binary trading.