Title : Binary Options in Australia
link : Binary Options in Australia
October 2014
Binary options are getting trend in Australian online trading industry now a days and more traders are jumping to trade binary options. However, it should be noted that binary options are not been regulated until now by Australian securities and investment commission (ASIC) who is watch dog for all brokers in Australia. In Europe, Binary options come under gambling so no tax but in Australia, there is. :)
It is worth noting that all regulated Australian binary option brokers already have existing operations in FX/CFD markets and have started offering binary options as an extension of their current ASIC license. If a broker already has an ASIC license to offer margin FX trading services, they are able to offer binary options as well.
The big issue ASIC (and other regulators) have with binary options is that they are not a traditional asset class. They are essentially a betting game on the outcome of an event. The payout structure is also unlike any other financial asset. If a binary option expires ‘out-of-the-money’ the client loses 100% of his investment, but if the client’s option expires ‘in-the-money’, the client can expect to earn around 80% or less. A negative cumulative payout is achieved and the broker can expect to ‘beat’ the client the more the client plays. This has led to calls from across the financial services industry for binary options to be classified as ‘gaming’ platforms in a similar vein to sports betting. In this case, all regulatory oversight falls under the jurisdiction of the applicable Gaming Commission.
So far Binary options are only regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commissions (CySEC). Malta , Japan and several countries are looking forward to make them regulated.
There’s very little ASIC can do to stop jackpot hunting retail traders from participating in binary options trading. Clients can open accounts outside of Australia in regions such as New Zealand or Cyprus but forego all regulatory protection. Given that most binary option buyers are retail clients on the hungrier side of the risk appetite scale, it’s highly likely that unregulated brokers from across the world will continue to tap the Australian market because of the tendency of retail clients to overlook stability in favor of profit potential. Oftentimes, retail clients are not even aware from which country their binary broker is operating from.
