iFOREX Gives Up on Israeli Licensing Process, Leaves the Market

The harsh regulations on online margin trading in Israel have caused another brokerage to withdraw from the market. Israeli clients of iFOREX (CLIO Financial Trading LTD) have just been told that the firm has decided to cancel its application for an ISA license and end its operations effective immediately.

Tzah Druker, the head of the Israeli Trading Arena Association, which represents the industry in its dealings with the regulator, commented: “Despite that iFOREX was in an advanced stage in the Israeli license process, the firm decided that in light of the limitations imposed by the ISA on the field, the business viability of running an arena in Israel is low and it chose to withdraw the license request.

The firm joins a number of companies that have made a similar decision and those that will make a similar decision in the coming weeks due to the ISA limitations. It is not unavoidable that in the end of the process Israeli clients who want to trade will be forced to settle and turn to unregulated offshore arenas such as USG Capital and UTrade since there will be no firm left in Israel that will meet the ISA requirements to offer an alternative."

Tzah Druker will take part in the panel “Financial Regulation in Israel – Where Next?” at the Finance Magnates Tel Aviv Conference, June 29th 2016. To join the new world of Online Trading , fintech and marketing register now.

Speaking with Finance Magnates, the CEO of CLIO, Yoav Libal, said: “A lack of financial worthwhileness leads us to the decision. The operation of the firm required a lot of management input and we determined that the profitability is not great enough.

If we would have continued the process, we would have gotten the license and it was our decision to stop it. The ISA acted fairly and honestly with us and we have no complaints against it. There is a negative atmosphere regarding the industry in Israel and we were not able to bring enough clients. I support regulating the field.”

Clients of iFOREX in Israel are requested to withdraw their funds and close all positions by Monday, June 6th, as the platform now works on a close-only mode.