Caution issued in Quebec regarding online trading platforms

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the regulatory and oversight body for Quebec’s financial sector, has issued a caution to investors in the province about the use of Internet-based trading platforms, primarily in the currency markets and the use of binary options.

AMF is taking action in the wake of work done by its cyber surveillance team and complaints received from investors who believe they had been defrauded through this type of trading, notes an AMF statement issued Tuesday. The reports “indicate the increasing popularity of platforms that, nonetheless, carry significant risks,” the statement adds.

Offering investment services or products – whether on the Internet, from an electronic platform or in person – is a regulated activity, the statement notes, and those offering investments must be registered with the AMF.

Although not exhaustive, the AMF reports it has published on its website a list of websites that are not authorized to offer such investment products and services. “The AMF will publish updates to this list when new unauthorized sites are brought to its attention,” the statement adds.

“Unauthorized trading platforms are sometimes associated with fraudulent schemes. The consequences of these schemes can include denial of access to the accounts and assets of certain clients and even identity theft.”