April 18, 2016

CFTC Announces Additional Names to Its List of Foreign Entities that Illegally Solicit U.S. Residents in Forex and Binary Options

Registration Deficient (RED) List on CFTC Website Identifies Companies Operating Illegally without Being Registered

Washington, DC - As part of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) ongoing efforts to help protect Americans from fraud, today the agency announced the addition of 23 new names to the RED List. Started in September 2015, the RED List — standing for “Registration Deficient” — contains the names of unregistered foreign entities that the CFTC has reason to believe are soliciting and accepting funds from U.S. residents at a retail level for, among other things, trading in foreign currency (forex) or binary options, and who are required to register with the CFTC but, in fact, are not registered (see CFTC Press Release 7224-15, September 9, 2015).

These 23 new additions bring the total number of foreign entities on the RED List to over 40. The RED List can be found at: www.SmartCheck.gov/REDList.

Registration is no guarantee against fraud or mismanagement by an otherwise unscrupulous firm; however, it does bring a higher level of security and accountability to the public. For example, registration enables the CFTC to examine whether firms meet minimum financial standards as well as disclosure, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements.

The RED list complements registration information available on the National Futures Association website (https://www.nfa.futures.org). The CFTC publicizes the existence of the RED list to other government regulators, the media, consumer groups, industry participants, self-regulatory organizations, exchanges, and industry associations.

The 23 foreign entities added to the RED List are:

Banc de Options

Barclays Broker

BeeOptions

Binary Book

Binary Das

Binary Int'l

BTG Option

Diamond Managed Forex

Forex Broker Inc.

Forex CBR

Forex Investment Services

Golden Tangent Holdings

Ivory Options

Land FX

Lbinary

NRG Binary

Optionsxo

Paam-Maam Forex Fund Management

Profit Forex Corp

RealForex.com

Tallinex

Titan Trade

UK Options

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See CFTC’s Binary Options Customer Fraud Advisory and “RED” List

The CFTC has issued a Consumer Alert to warn about fraudulent schemes involving binary options and their trading platforms. The Alert warns customers that the perpetrators of these unlawful schemes allegedly refuse to credit customer accounts, deny fund reimbursement, commit identity theft, and manipulate software to generate losing trades.

Customers can report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, to the CFTC Division of Enforcement via a Toll-Free Hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382) or file a tip or complaint online. 

Media Contact
Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: April 18, 2016