Regulatory Round-Up: Japan's FSA and Canada's BCSC Issue Warnings
- A number of warnings came from the Japanese and Canadian watchdogs today against firms flouting regulations.
Japanese and Canadian regulators warned against a total of three companies today for flouting regulations, and engaging in unauthorised trading activity.
Japan
Japan’s regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), came out with warnings today against two unauthorised firms believed to have been soliciting and offering trading services to Japanese clients.
The latest addition to its warning list is binary options broker JET Option (a brand of Capital Swift Investments). While its physical address is unknown, the JET Option website offers a Japanese version, despite the fact that the broker does not have permission to service Japanese clients.
Indeed, the regulator notes that even if a company offering trading in derivatives (binary options are considered as derivatives in Japan) is registered outside of Japan, it must have a Japanese license to target Japanese investors.
Moreover, the blacklisted broker also advertised binary options with expiration times as short as 30 seconds, which is another violation of Japanese rules, which prohibit such short-term options.
The second blacklisted broker is Option Trust. Again, the firm is accused of soliciting OTC (over-the-counter) derivatives to traders resident in the country, despite not possessing the requisite registration.
Tellingly, Option Trust’s website is exclusively in Japanese, although the trading company, PWS Service Ltd, purports to have a London address.
British Columbia
Meanwhile, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), the independent provincial agency responsible for regulating trading in securities in the Canadian province, has warned against an entity by the name of Broker Capital.
Broker Capital, which purports to have an office in Belize City, Belize, offers an online Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term. According to BCSC, the Belizean firm has made unsolicited telephone calls to British Columbia (BC) residents, urging them to open an account.
Given that Broker Capital is not registered to trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in BC, residents are urged to “exercise caution” when dealing with such firms.
Japanese and Canadian regulators warned against a total of three companies today for flouting regulations, and engaging in unauthorised trading activity.
Japan
Japan’s regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), came out with warnings today against two unauthorised firms believed to have been soliciting and offering trading services to Japanese clients.
The latest addition to its warning list is binary options broker JET Option (a brand of Capital Swift Investments). While its physical address is unknown, the JET Option website offers a Japanese version, despite the fact that the broker does not have permission to service Japanese clients.
Indeed, the regulator notes that even if a company offering trading in derivatives (binary options are considered as derivatives in Japan) is registered outside of Japan, it must have a Japanese license to target Japanese investors.
Moreover, the blacklisted broker also advertised binary options with expiration times as short as 30 seconds, which is another violation of Japanese rules, which prohibit such short-term options.
The second blacklisted broker is Option Trust. Again, the firm is accused of soliciting OTC (over-the-counter) derivatives to traders resident in the country, despite not possessing the requisite registration.
Tellingly, Option Trust’s website is exclusively in Japanese, although the trading company, PWS Service Ltd, purports to have a London address.
British Columbia
Meanwhile, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), the independent provincial agency responsible for regulating trading in securities in the Canadian province, has warned against an entity by the name of Broker Capital.
Broker Capital, which purports to have an office in Belize City, Belize, offers an online Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term. According to BCSC, the Belizean firm has made unsolicited telephone calls to British Columbia (BC) residents, urging them to open an account.
Given that Broker Capital is not registered to trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in BC, residents are urged to “exercise caution” when dealing with such firms.