ESMA renews binary options prohibition for a further three months from 2 April 2019

18/02/2019

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has agreed to renew the prohibition of the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options to retail clients, in effect since 2 July 2018, for a further three-month period.

ESMA has carefully considered the need to extend the intervention measure currently in effect. It considers that a significant investor protection concern related to the offer of binary options to retail clients continues to exist. ESMA has therefore agreed to renew the measure from 2 April 2019 on the same terms as the previous renewal decision that started to apply on 2 January 2019.

The renewal was agreed by ESMA’s Board of Supervisors on 14 February 2019. 

Next steps

ESMA intends to adopt the renewal measure in the official languages of the EU in the coming weeks, following which ESMA will publish an official notice on its website.  The measure will then be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will start to apply from 2 April 2019 for a period of three months.

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