Canada’s financial regulator British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) expanded over the weekend its Investment Caution List of companies unauthorized to operate in the British Columbia district by adding five new entities. The regulaor has added forex broker SEL Investments Ltd., trading as InvestingCI, and binary options brokers Option Orbit, LBinary, ZenithOptions, and Tain Capital.
These five companies have not been registeres to trade in, or advice on, securities or exchange contracts in British Columbia, the regulator noted.
InvestingCI (www.investingci.com), ZenithOptions (www.zenithoptions.net), and Option Orbit (www.option-orbit.com)all say that they are online trading platforms for binary options. According to the BCSC, British Columbia residents can open accounts with these trading platforms, which is in breach of the local regulations, since the platform providers are not authorized to target local citizens.
LBinary, which is a binary options broker, also offers its services to local traders without having the required authorization.
The regulator said that InvestingCI claims to have an office in the UK. Meanwhile, ZenithOptions says on its website it is the trading name of Edwards Ltf, based in the Seychelles.
Tain Capital (www.taincapital.com), presents itself as a a boutique private equity firm with global reach. It has provided a British Columbia address. However, according to the BCSC the company is not nased in the district of its jurisdiction.
Neither of the companies has provided information regarding licensing and regulation. Some of them, however, offer attractive returns on investment of more than 85%. These are ZenithOptions, LBinary and Option Orbit.
The BCSC warns local citizens to be cautious when chosing financial intermediaries, especially if they are not registered to trade or advise in British Columbia.
In the Investment Caution List, the BCSC includes foreign brokers not registered in British Columbia which have targeted local citizens, as well as entities that wrongfully associate themselves with genuine companies authorized in the district. The only list consists of companies that the regulator has confirmed are engaging in these type of activities.
BCSC is in charge of the regulation of the capital markets in the British Columbia province. It consists of eight commissioners and a chairman, appointed by the governor of the province. It reviews registration applications of trading companies, informs the public of possible fraudulent companies, protects investors’ rights, investigate consumer claims and collect funds from fraudulent investment companies. The commission has a list of rules and regulations that companies operational in the area should follow.
Also, unregistered and unauthorized investment companies that target British Columbia residents are included in an Investment Caution List, which is accessible to the public. Currently the list consists of 147 entities.
The forex broker market in Canada is regulated by provincial regulatory bodies. Forex trading legislation can vary in the different provinces.
Source: BCSC
