Cyprus Securities And Exchange Commission Guidance On Binary Options And Contracts For Difference

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has issued a circular (C271 dated 4 June 2018) to regulated Cyprus Investment Firms informing them that following publication of the European Securities and Markets Authority's product intervention decision on binary options and contracts for difference in the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 June 2018, the product intervention measures in relation to binary options and contracts for difference will apply from 2 July 2018 and 1 August 2018 respectively.

In response to enquiries on whether the measures extend to services offered to residents of countries outside the European Economic Area, CySEC has obtained clarification from ESMA. ESMA's position is that, in line with the European Commission's guidance on the territorial scope of the MiFID I regime, the MiFID II/MiFIR regime applies to services provided by investment firms which are authorized in the EEA irrespective of the location of the customer.