Israeli Securities Authority: Binary Options are Un-Licensable

In the last year, the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) has been reviewing license applications submitted for obtaining an online own-account financial trading license. As part of this licensing process, the ISA is intermittently issuing press releases clarifying various issues relating to the scope of the licensing legislation.

In one of such press releases issued recently, the ISA stated that it will not allow the offering of online binary options via the licensed trading medium. The reason for this decision is, according to the ISA, the nature of binary options which are complex and difficult to value, and the concern of the ISA that regulating such products might not be effective. The ISA goes further and claims that trading in binary options is akin to gambling, and therefore allowing such trading could harm the customers and disparage the reputation of the market.