Proposed Binary Options Law Implementation in Israel Postponed to Early 2018 

As it now stands, the passed bill considers all activities connected to binary options trading to be a criminal offense and can be punishable with up to two years in prison.

It seems that the new binary options law in Israel, which was supposed to be passed before the Knesset parliament’s summer vacation, which started yesterday, it is going to have to wait just a bit longer. The new law will ban all activities that are in any way associated with binary options.

Considering the vacation dates, now it seems that the earliest date in which this long awaiting law is going to be able to be passed is when Knesset winter session open in late October. Also, since Israeli laws become effective three months after they have been passed, this means that the law cannot become valid before late January 2018.

The bill in question was drafted by the Israel Securities Authority and the Finance Ministry. The first reading of the bill resulted in the 31-0 vote in Knesset parliament, after which it was sent to be finely tuned further and debated again. This is where all went awry as the second and third reading along with the vote was not scheduled in time so that the Knesset could vote.

As it now stands, the passed bill considers all activities connected to binary options trading to be a criminal offense and can be punishable with up to two years in prison. This is regardless if the clients of the binary firms are foreigners or Israeli. It is also considered to be the breaking of their anti-money laundering laws, which can add additional time in prison along with the financial penalties.

The new legislation includes: selling the software services required to run a binary options brokerage, offering of payment services for binary options trading, binary options trading marketing, and obviously, soliciting clients or any other type of contact with prospective traders.

With all this in mind, there are, however, those who believe that the reason why the bill has not been completely passed yet is that of the binary options lobbyists who are engaged with Knesset. It is suspected that their agenda was to prolong the passing of the bill as much as possible, but also to possibly have them make adjustments to the bill itself. The goal is to make the bill regulate the Israeli binary options industry, instead of complete banning. The overall idea is to treat binary options trading the same way as Forex and CFDs are treated on the market.

Source: Chronicle Day – Proposed Binary Options Law Implementation in Israel Postponed to Early 2018

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