FSMA Warning Against Firms Offering Binary Options Related Products in Belgium

In August 2016, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) banned all investment firms from offering binary options as a product within Belgian territory. Since that time, it has been issuing many warnings against companies that have been doing business in Belgium contrary to the regulations.

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In the latest such warning, the FSMA has issued warnings against 9 companies that have been offering such products and not returning funds to investors. They are:

- EasyGestions (www.easygestions.com)

- FXUnited / United Global Holdings Limited (www.fxunitedglobal.com)

- Markets Premium (www.markets-premium.com)

- OneTwoTrade / Up & Down Marketing Ltd (www.onetwotrade.com)

- Suisse Option / Primary Stream Limited (www.suisseoption.com)

- TorOption (www.toroption.com)

- Tp-Markets / Hubstone Holdings Ltd (www.tp-markets.com)

- VIP Markets (www.vvipmarkets.com)

- XFR Financial (cloned firm) / E New Sp Z.o.o. (www.xfr-financial.com)

The FSMA says that these companies do not have the required authorization and adds that they may be involved in investment fraud. Hence, clients that invest with them run the risk of being defrauded.

The FSMA advises clients to check the identity of companies that offer such products and verify whether they have the required authorization as a matter of due diligence. The FSMA website can be referred to for a list of regulated firms and if in doubt, it can also be contacted for clarification.

The FSMA also warns against cloned firms which pass themselves off as regulated firms to dupe gullible investors. The FSMA insists that clients should always perform checks before investing with any company, which would also help the regulator in its efforts to enforce its regulations.