The Israeli Security Authority (ISA) revealed today that it has rejected the licensing application of iTraderFX. This brings the number of firms remaining in the process of acquiring permission to operate in the country to just ten - less than half of the 21 that started.
This subject will be among the topics discussed 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.
iTraderFX was launched by Israeli binary option provider iTrader back in March of this year, less than two weeks before the ISA decided to ban all binary options trading for regulated firms. The watchdog did not provide any details about the reasons for the rejection today but it is obvious the shift away from binary options was not enough to satisfy it.
Before the crippling regulatory process started, the firm was a highly visible player in the Israeli online trading market. iTrader had a strategic partnership agreement valued at 1.2 million NIS with Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club for 2015/2016 season. It previously had a sponsorship deal with Beitar Jerusalem, one of the most popular football teams in Israel, estimated as worth a million NIS a year.
Clients of iTraderFX in Israel are requested to withdraw their funds and close all positions by Thursday, July 14th.
Commenting to Finance Magnates, iTrader provided its view on the future: "We recently informed the ISA of our intent to sell all of the firm's trading activity and to focus on establishing an online college for a number of main subjects, and among these financial education. The initial investment for developing the college and creating the worthy infrastructure is over a million NIS.
We see as an utmost importance to provide basic tools in financial education to allow the many who are interested to do so while gathering as much valuable experience as possible, using judgment and not in a reckless fashion."
