The Financial Commission (FinaCom PLC), an industry-specific dispute resolution service that caters to the financial services industry, today announced that it believes that the binary options broker CTOptions and another Clone entity have been falsely claiming membership.
The self-regulatory body noted that a representative claiming to be from CTOptions.com used a misleadingly similar logo while promoting its services to fraudulently convince investors that it is a member of FinancialCommission.org. Similarly, the clone entity listed false membership details. Besides clarifying that the firms in question lack the proper authorisation, FinaCom also said that it strongly advises investors to only deal with financial firms that are authorised, and to check its register to ensure that they are.
It added that in cases when complaints are filed against a member firm, Financial Commission uses a proven method to process complaints and a decision is delivered by the Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC). Financial Commission cannot process complaints against non-members and no further action will be taken.
The CTOptions website attempts to mislead investors into thinking that it is offering a legal product through indirect hints regarding its regulatory status. In addition, the UK FCA has previously warned that the firm lacks authorisation.
In the UK, it would be licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission according to the current regulatory framework of binary options trading in the UK. Finally, FinaCom noted that brokers operating without licenses or in jurisdictions where there are no formal rules exist pose a significant risk to consumers as there is no recourse or oversight in cases of trade disputes. With such firms there is no transparency regarding ethical standards of best-Execution , and nothing making them honor customer withdrawal requests.
