The proposed prohibition of the provision of binary options services from within Israel has come a step closer to realization. A draft legislation passed the country legislature’s Reforms Committee by an unanimously positive vote yesterday.
Binary options and gambling are positioned as two very similar activities under the new legislative piece. During a Monday discussion preceding the vote on the bill, representatives for the Israel Securities Authority said that the provision of binary options services from within Israel is unacceptable and that lawmakers should make no compromise and ban the activity.
Here it is important to note that if and when the bill is enacted, it will only prohibit the provision of the services and not the development and distribution of binary options software.
However, lawmakers have repeatedly pointed out that the line previously drawn between production and provision has gradually disappeared, hence the necessity for new regulations. (READ SO: ISRAEL AND THE REGULATIONS WITH BITCOINS)
Police officers shared the general opinion that the actual issue was the fact that software companies have been transforming their business models to eventually become brokers. It was also pointed out during the Monday discussion that players transferring from online gambling to binary options had been what had spurred the above-mentioned trend of suppliers turning into brokers.
They also pointed out that the case is similar with gambling activities and that the proposed binary options ban actually does not come as anything new.
Technology providers will thus be forced to either change their business model in a manner that abides by local laws or to leave the country and find a refuge where they would be able to retain their combined operations.
