Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
Australia’s financial watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), warns the public not to use the website Top Ten Binary Brokers for signing up for any of the binary options brokers advertised there. Purportedly, the site is a reputable review of the top binary option brokers that offer financial services to Australians.
The warning against Top Ten Binary Brokers would be the first of this kind issued recently by any national regulator.
The reason, given by the ASIC is that the site, which has two addresses www.toptenbinarybrokers.com/au and www.toptenbinarybrokers.com/au2 is offering unlicensed financial services in the country through web advertising directed at Australians. Furthermore, the Commission notes, the majority of the binary options brokers, listed on the site, are not licensed to provide financial services in Australia either.
According to the statement, the ASIC has made numerous attempts to contact the site administrators, to no avail.
“We believe the advertising by Top Ten Binary Brokers and the information on the Top Ten Binary Brokers Websites is likely to mislead the Australian public into believing the entities listed are appropriately licensed and regulated in Australia. The public should avoid clicking on that advertising,” the ASIC warns and adds that until the sites obtain proper license, the Australians should avoid signing up for any of the financial services listed on the sites.
According to the “About Us” section on the site, it has been established in 2013 and provides in-depth review of binary options brokers, financial market updates and market insights, as well as trading charts, real-time market data and analyses.
An SMN check on the site revealed that it does indeed provide reviews for regulated binary options brokers such as Banc de Binary, the US binary options exchange Nadex and IQ Option, for example. But one must keep in mind that a national regulation in one country, does not necessarily mean the broker is regulated in another.
It also appears that the site is misleading potential investors that there are binary options brokers licensed in Canada, which is definitely not the case. This leads to the conclusion that ASIC’s concerns are well grounded and users must not entirely trust the information on the site.