Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize issued on Wednesday a warning notice against binary options broker YieldOptions, owned by HSBO Capital Ltd., for faking a license issued in Belize and Samoa.
The entity claims to hold a trading in financial and commodity-based derivative instruments and other securities licence issued by the Samoa International Financial Authority (SIFA). It presents a fake license, claiming it is signed by a former IFSC director general. However. The Belizean regulatory body called the fake license “a complete forgery”.
The broker offers long- and short-term, as well as ladder and one-touch binary options on currencies, commodities, indices, and stocks. 
It offers several types of accounts, depending on the deposit amount – Bronze account with deposit of $500-$999; Silver account with deposit of $1,000-4,900; Gold account with deposit of $5,000-$9,999; Platinum account with deposit of $10,000-$25,000; VIP account with deposit of $20,000-$50,000; and Palladium account with deposit exceeding $50,000.
No information regarding regulation was immediately available on YieldOptions’ website.
Belize is known as an offshore destination and is renowned for its milder regulation and licensing requirements and lower incorporation costs. Recently, the IFSC increased significantly the annual license fees and the minimum capital requirement for forex brokers to $25,000 and $500,000, respectively, but it still remains one of the countries with the lowest such requirements.
Many forex brokers choose to register in Belize and fall under the supervision of the IFSC since they need to meet fewer and softer criteria and to comply with less strict rules and requirements than if they registered in other countries. The IFSC rather relies on self-regulation by the companies. Nevertheless, a broker license is attractive to traders as it brings them a feeling of confidence and security when choosing a broker.
Source: IFSC
