The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) reacted negatively to the proposal of the Polish regulator to allow leverage as high as 1:100 for some qualified retail traders.
The pan – European regulator also will not give green light to the CySEC proposal to allow different tire leverage for retail traders depending on their income. Back in May the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission proposed to allow wealthier traders to use leverage of up to 1:50, while for not so affluent retail investors the leverage rules to get tougher.
In a statement ESMA notes that the proposal of the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego of Poland (KNF) to allow certain qualified retail clients to trade forex with 100:1 leverage are not justified and proportionate.
In the same time ESMA accepts the measures proposed by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht of Germany (BaFIN), the Malta Financial Services Authority of Malta (MFSA) and the Magyar Nemzeti Bank of Hungary (MNB) with the minor comment on the Hungarian proposal.
ESMA notes that, while the national measures proposed by MNB “adequately protect retail clients when dealing with the specific providers to which the national measures apply, these measures are not justified and proportionate because they are addressed only to individual firms and do not have a general application.”
