It has not yet taken the step of banning them entirely. This regulation will help combat such offers. Asked how the Belgian government plans to enforce the ban, in light of the fact that the US government banned non-exchange binary options several years ago and yet many companies continue to solicit American citizens, the FSMA spokesman said the regulator would employ administrative sanctions, and cited a case last week where the FSMA reached a settlement with Cyprus-regulated investment firm Rodeler Limited, which owns the brand 24Option.

Rodeler offered to settle with the FSMA for the amount of euro , for offering binary options, CFDs and forex unlawfully to Belgian citizens. In addition, Rodeler is required to make contact with all of its Belgian customers to offer them the possibility to terminate their contracts and be reimbursed their current account balance. Owned by Israelis, Rodeler calls clients from its call center in Israel under the company name Betamedia.

While the FSMA did not wish to speak on the record about the Israeli connection to binary options and forex fraud at this stage, Shmuel Hauser, Chairman of the Israel Securities Authority, told The Times of Israel in an interview last week that the ISA has been approached by the Belgian regulatory authorities in the past year about binary options firms operating from Israeli territory.

There are more than brands operating from Israel, employing thousands of Israelis, defrauding customers out of an estimated billions of dollars per year. While local binary options firms have now been banned by the Israel Securities Authority from targeting Israelis, they are still free to target people abroad.

In the past year, the FSMA has issued warnings about other binary options companies that operate from Israel, including CentralOption, PWRTrade, Tradesolid, and RBoptions. We also refer victims to Cysec and the financial ombudsman in Cyprus. I joined The Times of Israel after many years covering US and Israeli politics for Hebrew news outlets. I believe responsible coverage of Israeli politicians means presenting a degree view of their words and deeds — not only conveying what occurs, but also what that means in the broader context of Israeli society and the region.

I believe Israel is stronger and more democratic when professional journalists do that tough job well. Your support for our work by joining The Times of Israel Community helps ensure we can continue to do so. So now we have a request. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

You can do so by email to: office timesofisrael. I joined The Times of Israel after many years covering US and Israeli politics for Hebrew news outlets. I believe responsible coverage of Israeli politicians means presenting a degree view of their words and deeds — not only conveying what occurs, but also what that means in the broader context of Israeli society and the region. I believe Israel is stronger and more democratic when professional journalists do that tough job well.

Your support for our work by joining The Times of Israel Community helps ensure we can continue to do so. So now we have a request. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

Illustrative view of high-tech office buildings in Herzliya Pituach, Israel, December 12, Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories.

Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms. Thank you, Tal Schneider, Political Correspondent. Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel. Most Popular. Orthodox parties demand legalization of gender-segregated public events. close popup. Israeli extradited to Germany over alleged part in massive investment scam. Authorities say Yuri Dashevsky is part of an organized gang that from to persuaded investors to invest in fictitious financial instruments.

By TOI staff and Simona Weinglass. Celsius suspends official under probe; 2nd staffer founded firm with money launderer. Court lifts gag order on names of alleged forex scammers wanted in Germany.

Germany requesting extradition of Israeli citizens Pavel Kotler, Yuri Dashevsky, Nimrod Blachman and Chen Malka for multimillion-dollar binary options and crypto fraud. A rash of raids in 6 countries points to a new strategy: Going after the trading programs that allegedly allow scamsters to keep pushing crypto and other investment cons.

Detectives obtain footage of ex-industry executive alleging SpotOption software was tilted against investors; clip to be used as evidence in class-action lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv.

Reporting by Simona Weinglass established that much of this industry, which employs thousands of people — many of them young, many of them immigrants — is nothing more than theft. Far from investing in any legitimate, conventional options-buying process, the hapless clients of the fraudulent companies are actually gambling in a crooked casino.

Presenting themselves to naive clients as responsible firms offering an opportunity to make money by trading in options on commodities, the fraudulent companies in this industry turn over hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps even billions. They prey on customers attracted by tantalizing get-rich-quick ads online, in emails and through phone calls.

Via a variety of ruses, customers are inveigled into placing their money on a bet as to whether a commodity will rise or fall in value. In theory, they make money if their bet proves accurate and lose their stake if it is not. Unlike respectable brokers who charge a commission and have every interest in their clients making money, these fraudulent firms depend on their clients losing.

A minority of the victims of these fraudulent companies are native Israelis. The majority of the victims live abroad. Israeli regulators have been unconscionably lax in tackling the fraud, which has been ongoing for several years. The Israel Securities Authority has indicated in recent days that it may finally outlaw binary options dealing, though not the companies themselves.

As our article highlighted, however, any such ban will only constrain firms that defraud customers in Israel. Israel-based firms will be free to continue fleecing clients overseas. Already, many of the companies involved are adapting their operations accordingly. Rather than a force for good, in this case, Israeli innovation is being used to enable theft.

So skilled is the industry in manipulating Google, indeed, that anyone trying to research the industry is directed to supposedly informative websites that are often run by corrupt firms and their affiliates. The scale of the binary options fraud, however, dwarfs such scams, both in its cynicism and in the colossal sums of money involved.

In the few short days since our article was published, The Times of Israel has been contacted by numerous people whose lives have been blighted by this ongoing fraud. We will be speaking to them, and following up their stories. We invite others who have worked in the industry, or who have been defrauded by it, to contact us. You can do so by email to: office timesofisrael. I joined The Times of Israel after many years covering US and Israeli politics for Hebrew news outlets. I believe responsible coverage of Israeli politicians means presenting a degree view of their words and deeds — not only conveying what occurs, but also what that means in the broader context of Israeli society and the region.

I believe Israel is stronger and more democratic when professional journalists do that tough job well. Your support for our work by joining The Times of Israel Community helps ensure we can continue to do so. So now we have a request. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

Illustrative view of high-tech office buildings in Herzliya Pituach, Israel, December 12, Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories. Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms.

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Karine Elharrar. With the recent proposal to ban the offering to foreigners by Israeli companies, the industry is set to take a massive hit in and beyond. This led to a proliferation of companies and entities operating in this industry, without any form of regulation or guidelines that were supposed to streamline the operations of these firms. We will be speaking to them, and following up their stories. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. Israeli traders can no longer trade binary options with Israeli binary options brokers.

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