The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan (FCAA) has issued cease-trade orders against Cyprus-based Mpower Technologies Ltd. and Bulgaria-based Melnic Group Ltd., which it says are operating binary options trading platforms and are not registered in Saskatchewan.
Mpower operates under the name of CFD Corporate and appears to operate two websites: www.binarycorporate.com and www.cfdcorporate.com, the FCAA notes. Melnic does business under the name of BossCapital.com and uses the website www.bosscapital.com. The cease-trade orders expire on May 3, and may be extended by the regulator.
“Despite the issuance of a number of cease-trade orders and investor alerts by provincial regulators and the Canadian Securities Administrators, there is an ongoing attempt by these and other binary option companies to solicit funds and investments from Saskatchewan residents,” says Ed Rodonets, deputy director of the FCAA’s enforcement branch, in a statement.
“We are again warning investors about unregistered binary options companies and are very concerned that despite our ongoing efforts, Saskatchewan residents continue to fall victim to these solicitations,” he adds, noting that investors in the province have lost more than $420,000 to these types of schemes over the past two years.
The websites of many binary option trading companies include references to being registered to do business, the FCAA says, but notes that this registration is usually in a foreign country and is not applicable in Canada.