One of the big binary options brokerages in Cyprus, OptionRally, has laid off 20 employees from its English desk located in Israel, which leaves the broker with almost no presence in the country, Finance Magnates has learned.
At its peak, OptionRally employed about 300 service providers in Israel, and now it has moved all activities to Cyprus. The firm was involved in one of the bigger sponsorship deals in the industry with the company’s logo appearing on Ferrari’s Formula 1 race cars.
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OptionRally is regulated under CySEC and in Belize. The decision is a direct outcome of CySEC’s ban on employee bonuses, which affected the amount of money they were paid each month. Moving activity to Cyprus is expected to bring a decrease in service costs to the broker as well as bringing it closer to the regulator.
OptionRally went through a few rounds of staff reductions in Israel in the passing year, the latest occurring in July when 120 employees were released. The company has dramatically reduced its support staff at a time when CySEC has issued a series of circulars pointing companies into a new business model, which is much less reliant on direct sales. Just like the bulk of the binary options industry, OptionRally is one of the brokerages that have been relying on just such a business model.
OptionRally made headlines last September after CySEC fined it €138,000 over misleading information on its website. Last week the broker responded to Finance Magnates’ inquiry regarding a possible shutdown of its Trading Platform : “OptionRally Financial Services who manages and operates the website www.optionrally.eu, is working as usual. In regards to the fine, the Company is obliged to act fairly, honestly and professionally in accordance to our clients best interests.”
