The Financial Commission (FinaCom PLC) today announced that it has approved a retail FX broker called BalansFX to obtain its membership, becoming the 49th company to join the ranks of the self-regulatory organization.

Following the acceptance of its application by FinaCom PLC, BalansFX has obtained membership status which means that its traders can be eligible for compensation of up to €20,000 per submitted claim and have access to all dispute resolution services offered by the commission.

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BalansFX is a multi-asset brokerage firm that offers trading of FX, indices, CFDs, and commodities. The brand is solely focused on the Turkish market though it apparently has no regulation status in the country.

Turkey’s regulators have been tough on retail FX business and since 2017 they had given no indication of their intention to ‎revise the significant limitations on forex ‎regulations.‎ In 2018, the CBM introduced amendments in leveraged forex trading transactions. The board brought a minimum margin of TL 50,000 (USD13,840) and the leverage was rearranged as 10:1. Previously, before the amendment, it was 100:1.

Most recently, Turkey’s banking regulator said on May 7 that FX units of Citigroup, BNP Paribas and UBS Group can no longer process transactions involving Turkish lira. The watchdog lifted the ban that stayed in place for four days after it determined that the lenders managed to fulfill their liabilities in Turkish lira transactions with local banks.

Membership benefits

In addition to a more streamlined and swift resolution process, relative to traditional channels of arbitration, the status of BalansFX as an A-category Member provides clients with up to €20,000 of protection per submitted claim, backed by Financial Commission’s compensation fund.

According to its latest annual report, the self-regulator made progress across some of its key business drivers. Specifically, the number of new complaints rose seven percent year-over-year as a record $7.4 million sought by traders in 2019, up from $3,184,932 in 2018.

Likewise, the number of resolved complaints in “clients favor” increased 17 percent to 179, up from 153 the previous year. The commission also ruled in favor of its broker members in 451 cases it assessed, up from 373 in 2018.