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Banc De Binary

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Banc De Binary
Company typePrivate
Industrybinary options
Founded2009
Key people
Oren Laurent (CEO)[1]
Abraham 'Abe' Cofnas, Head Analyst;[2] Sarah Fenwick, Director of Communications;[3] Roy Ogen, General Manager of the Cyprus Headquarters [4]
Websitewww.bancdebinary.com/

Banc De Binary, formerly known as BO Systems Limited and also known as BDB Services Limited and ET Binary Options Ltd.,[5] is an Israeli-Cypriot based enterprise specializing in binary options (also known as fixed return options) on assets including commodities, stocks, indices, and foreign exchange. The company operates an online trading website through which customers can buy or sell binary ("call" or "put") options, predicting whether the price of a certain commodity will go up or down in a specific time period.[6] Banc de Binary customers do not execute their trades via a regulated exchange, but are 'betting' against the firm itself, and the firm only profits if the client loses.[7][8] Banc de Binary is an associate of Spot Option Exchange which sets the price of the option. The price of the option is not a market price, but is set by Spot Option Exchange itself.[9]

The company has been charged with several offences by the CTFC and SEC, and trading with US customers has been frozen following an injunction on 1 August 2013.[5][10] Charges filed on 7 August in the US stated that Banc de Binary "may be criminally liable under the federal RICO statute". Banc de Binary has refused to appear in court in the US for depositions.[11] Within the European Union, the company is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

The Wall Street Journal described it as "a website that allows people to bet on the price of gold, oil or stocks";[12] the Daily Mail called it a "betting firm".[13]

History

In an interview the company's founder stated that the firm was founded on the 15th Jan 2009,[1] and that before, he had worked at "NAF Hedge Funds" and "Infinity Private Investment Funds", which he described as hedge funds in New York.[14] The company also claims to have been founded in Seychelles in 2008,[15] and that this is their current trading address.[16]

In an interview, the company's founder claimed that by June 2011 the company had around 20,000 client accounts,[17][unreliable source?] and in an open letter published by August 2012, he claimed that number was then 200,000.[18] Banc de Binary have stated that it "is a small company, with approximately 60 employees".[11]

An article in the Independent on Sunday newspaper described it as a "leading City trading firm", although it does not have an office in the City of London, and the address the company gives is a virtual office space with no physical presence .[19][20]

Regulation

On 7 January 2013, Banc De Binary was licensed as an investment firm by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).[21][22]

Investment firms regulated by CySEC must demonstrate to CySEC that their activities comply with the laws of any non-EU countries where they do business.[23][24] According to the company, its operations "outside of the European Union" are conducted by BDB Services Limited (formerly known as BO Systems Limited), which is incorporated in the Seychelles.[16]

The Financial Services Register maintained by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority states that from 25 February 2013 the company "is authorised or registered by ... [CySEC] ... and may be subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority".[25] The company has similar licences in Germany,[26] Italy, France,[27] and Spain.[28] In accordance with the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), the company has "passported" into almost all member states of the EEA; MiFID allows companies to provide financial services primarily regulated by their home state rather than the state where the customer resides,[29] but clients based in other countries would receive nothing if the company collapsed.[30]

A 2013 investigation by the British Daily Mail newspaper journalist Tony Hetherington alleged that one client had $25,000 stolen from his bank account after signing up with them.[30]

Products and services

The company allows people to place predictions on changes in the price of various assets by using a pricing platform provided by another Israeli company, Spotoption, and customised by Banc de Binary. Customers do not own the asset but instead predict whether its price will rise or fall.[31] Spotoption also provide similar services for around 170 other binary options brokers.[32] Banc de Binary's role is to create accounts for customers as a reseller of Spotoption's services. The company offers several kinds of options; customers can make predictions of the price of over 200 global assets including commodities, stocks, indices, and FOREX using several variations of the trading platform including classic binary options,[33] long term options, sixty seconds,[34] one touch (boundary options),[35] and pairs trading.

Awards

  • 2013, Best Binary Options Broker in the Middle East 2013, JFEX [36][37]
  • 2012, Best Binary Options Customer Service, ForexTraders [38]
  • 2011, World Finance 100, World Finance Magazine[39]
  • 2011, Best Customer Service, FX Empire [40]
  • 2011, Broker of the Year, Binary Options Daily [41]
  • 2011, Platform of the Year, Binary Options Daily [41]

US regulatory issues

Banc de Binary claimed to have an office in New York City at Trump Towers, but this was in fact a virtual office space with no significant physical presence.[42] Trading and offering financial services to US consumers without gaining a license first from US regulators is illegal, as it would mean the client would have no protection. The company also claims on its site at its UK Companies House report[43] to have an office at 1 King Street, EC2, in the City of London, but this, like its New York City address, is a virtual office with no physical presence.[44] Banc de Binary's UK Companies House report says that they are based in Cyprus.

On 6 June 2013, Banc De Binary was charged by both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged violations of US financial regulations. In the same press release the CFTC warned more generally of "fraudulent schemes involving binary options and their trading platforms".[6] On 30 July 2013 the SEC obtained a preliminary injunction from U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada to prevent and freeze any further trading with US customers.[45] Binary trading in the US is legal, but only if done through properly registered and regulated exchanges such as NADEX.[46][47][48] Both the CTFC and SEC working in conjunction with one another filed civil suits against the company, seeking disgorgement, financial penalties and other preliminary and permanent injunctions against the company.[49][50] In civil suits filed in Nevada, the SEC and CTFC allege that the company was offering off-exchange traded options to US customers and unlawfully solicited US customers to buy and sell options. The CTFC and SEC's suit also alleges that it did not limit its offerings to eligible contract participants, contrary to US regulations;[49][51] a fully regulated broker would complete credit checks on customers to ensure that those with low finances did not trade with them. Amongst the allegations made by the SEC is that Banc de Binary induced people with limited funds, including one unemployed person with less than $1000,[52] to open accounts. In response to the US charges the company put out a statement that made no mention of its legal problems, but instead incorrectly implied that they were in negotiations and that they had voluntarily left the US market, when in fact the SEC had taken an injunction out to stop them:[30][53]

Banc de Binary have retained the services of Snell and Wilmer in Reno in relation to US charges. This followed an earlier hearing where in the absence of any representation from Banc de Binary, charges were filed via email and by post[11]

In a message posted on its Web site,[54] the company stated that

[...] Banc De Binary is voluntarily discontinuing its operations in the United States. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission have asserted that Banc De Binary is not permitted to offer its binary option products to U.S. residents without registering with those agencies. We are currently in discussions with the CFTC and SEC about these issues, but in the interim, we have discontinued all business with U.S. residents.

Investor advisories

As of October 2013, the company was rated "F" by the United States' Better Business Bureau because 31 complaints had been made against it, including 9 which were unanswered. The BBB report also offered the opinion that "[t]he site essentially allows investors to gamble on the future price of something at a point in time."[55]

It appears on the US Securities and Exchange Commission's "List of Unregistered Soliciting Entities That Have Been the Subject of Investor Complaints".[56]

In Canada, it is listed on the Ontario Securities Commission's Investors Warning List of "companies that appear to be engaging in activities that may pose a risk to investors".[57]

After receiving "at least one complaint from a Québec investor who traded through Banc de Binary's platform and was unable to recover his investment", the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) warned investors about the company. It noted that a bonus of 50% of the opening deposit is available, but customers who accept the bonus are not allowed to make withdrawals until they have made trades equal to 20 times their initial deposit. The AMF also pointed out that, due to the "all or nothing" nature of binary options, an investor who wrongly predicts market movement will lose his entire investment. Banc De Binary is not registered with the AMF. The AMF also, like the CFTC, included a more general warning about the risk of fraud in binary options trading in the same press release.[58]

Images

home page, August 2013
home page, August 2013

References

  1. ^ a b "Banc De Binary CEO Oren Laurent Opens Up on Binary Options - with Banc De Binary". Investing.com. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  2. ^ "The next generation of financier". European CEO. 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  3. ^ "Banc De Binary tops 200,000 new client accounts". 2013-10-08. The communications team for Cyprus is led by Sarah Fenwick who is the company's Director of Communications.
  4. ^ http://www.goldnews.com.cy/en/financial-services/banc-de-binary--changing-the-face-of-online-trading
  5. ^ a b "U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Banc de Binary Ltd. (a/k/a E.T. Binary Options Ltd.), Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief and for Civil Monetary Penalties Under the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission Regulations" (PDF). Commodity Futures Trading Commission. June 6, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "CFTC Charges "Prediction Market" Proprietor Banc de Binary with Violating the CFTC's Off-Exchange Options Trading Ban and Operating as an Unregistered Futures Commission Merchant". Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2013-10-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ http://thefxview.com/2013/08/16/binary-options-vs-forex-trading/
  8. ^ http://www.daytradingcoach.com/binary-options.html
  9. ^ http://www.spotoptionexchange.com/order-execution-policy/
  10. ^ "Banc de Binary Ltd. (Release No. LR-22767; August 1, 2013)". Sec.gov. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
  11. ^ a b c http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/nevada/nvdce/2:2013cv00993/94851/61/0.pdf
  12. ^ "Regulators Sue Prediction Site, Allege Illegal Options". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2013-11-15. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  13. ^ Tony Hetherington. "US watchdog takes 'bank' Banc de Binary to court...but Britain lets it in". Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  14. ^ "Oren Laurent, Financial Services". Archived from the original on 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2013-10-24. He obtained employment in various retail Wall Street Firms and then worked in NAF Hedge Funds. He later transferred to Infinity Private Investment Funds.
  15. ^ "Banc De Binary". Mybinaryoption.com. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
  16. ^ a b "Terms of Use". Archived from the original on 2013-11-20. BO Systems Limited (Effective from January 7, 2013 until March 5, 2013) and/or BDB Services Limited (Effective from March 5, 2013) (hereafter the Company) [...] The trading address of BDB Services Limited is situated at Suite 106, Premier Building, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles. [...] Outside of the European Union, this website is operated by BDB Services Limited (Incorporated in Seychelles) [...] {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 161 (help) Cite error: The named reference "tou" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ Wright, Susan (27 May 2013). "Banc De Binary CEO Oren Laurent Opens Up on Binary Options". Investment Underground. Archived from the original on 2013-08-08. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013. Our projections were for 10,000 client accounts by the end of 2011. We'd doubled that number by June.
  18. ^ "Banc De Binary's CEO Oren Laurent Expresses Sincere Thanks". BinaryOptionsDaily.com. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  19. ^ "Blue-chip dividends tipped to soar". The Independent. 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  20. ^ "Buy a 1 King Street, EC2V 8AU". Bookings.executiveoffices.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
  21. ^ "Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission". Cysec.gov.cy. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  22. ^ "Banc De Binary is first Binary Options Broker in EU". Financial Mirror. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  23. ^ "Get Out! CySEC Bans FX Firms From Accepting Non-EU Clientswork=Forex Magnates". Archived from the original on 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-10-16. [...] brokers which operate under the CySEC license [...] will no longer be able to solicit business [...] outside of the European Union, unless a potential client [...] who resides in a non-EU member state can provide written authorization from the domestic financial markets regulator in the nation which that person is resident [...]
  24. ^ "Freedom to provide investment and ancillary services and or perform investment activities in a third country" (PDF). Circular CI144-2013-22. Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. 2013-07-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-14. Retrieved 2013-11-11. The Commission allows, pursuant to section 79(4) of the Law, the provision of investment and ancillary services and/or the performance of investment services within the territory of a third country provided that CIFs, before commencing any activity, will take all necessary measures to ensure that they will comply with the relevant legal provisions of the third country.
  25. ^ "Financial Services Register 2013". Bank of England Financial Services Register. Jun 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  26. ^ BaFin. "BaFin – Unternehmensdatenbank BaFin" (in Template:De icon). Portal.mvp.bafin.de. Retrieved 2013-08-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  27. ^ "Fiche agent financier – REGAFI – Registre des agents financiers". Regafi.fr. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  28. ^ "CNMV – Empresas de servicios de inversión extranjeras en libre prestación". Cnmv.es. 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  29. ^ "Cypriot Investment Firm offering cross-border services to Member States". CySEC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  30. ^ a b c Tony Hetherington. "US watchdog takes 'bank' Banc de Binary to court...but Britain lets it in". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  31. ^ http://www.spotoption.com/binaryoptions/what-are-binary-options/
  32. ^ http://www.spotoption.com/brands/
  33. ^ "Binary Option". investopedia.com. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  34. ^ "60 Second Binary Option Trading Strategy". Nancy Eleutheriou. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  35. ^ "One-Touch Option". investopedia.com. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  36. ^ "JEFX AWARD 2013 Winners". Jordan Forex Expo and Award 13. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  37. ^ "FOREX industry celebrates the JFEX 2013 awards winners". ICN.com. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  38. ^ "Forex Traders". ForexTraders.com. Retrieved Mar 1, 2013.
  39. ^ "Banc De Binary World Finance 100 Profile". World Finance 100. Retrieved Aug 11, 2013.
  40. ^ "FXEmpire". FXEmpire. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  41. ^ a b "Binary Options Daily". BinaryOptionsDaily.com. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  42. ^ "SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION vs. BANC DE BINARY LTD, complaint" (PDF). Banc de Binary maintained a virtual office on Wall Street
  43. ^ "Companies House WebCheck". Wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  44. ^ "Buy a 1 King Street, EC2V 8AU". Bookings.executiveoffices.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  45. ^ "Banc de Binary Ltd. (Release No. LR-22767; August 1, 2013)". Sec.gov. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  46. ^ "Binary Options Legal US". Nadex.com. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  47. ^ "Banc De Binary: Gets Charged by the CTFC". ForexMagnates. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  48. ^ "CTFC files civil suit against Banc De Binary". The Fx View. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  49. ^ a b "SEC Warns Investors About Binary Options and Charges Cyprus-Based Company with Selling Them Illegally in U.S." Securities Exchange Commission. Retrieved 19 June 2013. Cite error: The named reference "SEC" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  50. ^ "CFTC Charges "Prediction Market" Proprietor Banc De Binary with Violating the CFTC's Off-Exchange Options Trading Ban and Operating as an Unregistered Futures Commission Merchant". Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  51. ^ "CFTC Charges "Prediction Market" Proprietor Banc de Binary with Violating the CFTC's Off-Exchange Options Trading Ban and Operating as an Unregistered Futures Commission Merchant". Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  52. ^ "Banc de Binary Ltd. (Release No. LR-22718; June 7, 2013)". Sec.gov. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  53. ^ Banc de Binary Ltd. (Release No. LR-22767; August 1, 2013). Sec.gov. Retrieved on 2013-10-16.
  54. ^ "Binary Options Trading Online with Banc De Binary". Archived from the original on 2013-08-17. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  55. ^ "BBB Business Review". Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Factors that lowered the rating for Banc De Binary include: 31 complaints filed against business Failure to respond to 9 complaints filed against business {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 60 (help)
  56. ^ "Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities". Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on 2013-02-23. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  57. ^ "Investors Warning List". Ontario Securities Commission. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  58. ^ "Binary options – AMF Cautions About Solicitations by Banc de Binary". Lautorite.qc.ca. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
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