The Japanese online trading market is known to be among the most active in the world, attracting a lot of established and aspiring brokers. It is also highly regulated and hard to break into legally, which leads to authorities routinely discovering and warning against websites operating without local approval. Today, a regional watchdog in Japan, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau (encompassing the Greater Tokyo Area), has issued a warning against a number of mainly binary options brands.

Among the seven brands in question are: PT-Option – a seemingly Chinese-focused brand operated by Platinum Option offering “one-minute registration” binary options trading; BinaryBest operated by the ominously named Pentagram Enterprise Ltd; Crown Binary – whose frequently asked questions page includes: “Is Crown-binary a scam? No, Crown-binary® is not a scam or a ‘con’ in anyway.”

Additionally added to the watchdog’s blacklist today are: The Australian-licensed brand of Highlow Markets Pty Ltd; Surprise Binary – operated by the BVI firm Fuji International Trading & Investment Co., Limited; Tip Option – operated by New Zealand based FGX Limited; and 365 Online Limited – another mainly Chinese-focused binary brand which has a Belize website domain but claims to be UK based.

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All of these brands presumably offered trading services to Japanese clients or operated a website with Japanese language marketing and support which brought them to the attention of the authorities. According to Japanese regulations a firm must have a local financial license to offer binary options services in Japan regardless of whether or not it has a trading license from elsewhere in the world.