The marketing of CFDs and binary options

In mid-February the International Organization of Securities Commissions, IOSCO, launched a consultation report proposing policy measures to protect investors of OTC leveraged products (CFDs and binary options). Seven proposals were selected, informed in particular by measures implemented in France as well as the new obligations set out by MiFID II in Europe.

Consistent with the observations submitted to ESMA on the same topic in January 2018 (AMAFI / 18-07), AMAFI endorses IOSCO’s initiative to propose convergent solutions at an international level to protect retail investors. For AMAFI, this international dimension is the only truly effective solution, since the main issue is deterring entities that are not regulated in their home countries from marketing these products abroad to countries where they are unauthorised. Consequently, in addition to its observations on the questions submitted to IOSCO, AMAFI stressed in particular the importance of clearly defining the products affected by these measures to avoid the targeting of financial instruments not affected by the issue (AMAFI / 18-17).