23 April, AtoZForex, Lagos – Interactive Option has been widely included on different regulators’ warning list. The latest addition comes as Russia’s KROUFR blacklists Interactive Option. The Russian regulator has confirmed that the firm’s operations are not satisfactory, in accordance with KROUFR’s standard of operations.
Why KROUFR blacklists Interactive Option
According to the Russian regulator, they have discovered evidence of unsatisfactory operations by employees of Interactive brokers. In its operations, the company requests clients’ bank data (number of kata, expiration date, CVC (CVV) to process payments and fund transfer into the trading account of such clients. It worries KROUFR that when such transactions are done, some additional security features do not always work, while a confirmation of the transaction is not sent. This mode of operation is however not transparent enough, hence, unsatisfactory to the regulators.
BCSC warning
As KROUFR blacklists Interactive Option, it is worth to note that Interactive Option has been widely warned by other regulators. Earlier in April, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) issued a public warning against Interactive Option and its parent company Pegase Capital Limited. The BCSC clarified that it discovered that at least one British Columbia (BC) resident was solicited to invest with Interactive Option. However, Interactive Option is not authorized to offer, trade in, or advise on, securities or exchange contracts in BC. Hence, the regulators have urged all BC residents to exercise caution when dealing with firms that are not registered to trade or advise in BC.
CySEC Interactive Option license suspension
Besides the BSCS Interactive Option warning, another cause of caution is the fact that the company’s license suspension by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission for the duration of about a month. It says on the firm’s website that “We would like to inform you that as of 4 March 2016, the Company’s CIF license with authorization number 225/14 has been suspended for a period of one (1) month by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)."
However, CySEC has extended the license suspension of Interactive Option and its parent company, Pegase Capital Limited. Initially, Pegase Capital Ltd’s license suspension was imposed after CySEC discovered that the CIF firm was non-compliant with eleven counts of the regulator’s regulation. Hence, back in November CySEC fined Pegase Capital Ltd €300,000, marking a hefty administrative fine of the Cypriot watchdog. And now, KROUFR blacklists Interactive Option showing how unsafe it is to do business with the firm.
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