Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prohibiting the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options to retail clients.

The government has not made an assessment. The government has legislated to transfer responsibility for the regulation of binary options from the Gambling Commission to the Financial Conduct Authority from 3 January 2018. The FCA recently warned investors about the risks of investing in binary options. The European Securities and Markets Authority have recently announced that they are considering measures to prohibit the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options to retail clients in the EU to address the significant risks to investors associated with this product. As the independent regulator, the FCA have indicated that they are supportive of ESMA’s proposals.