Apple, Google Drop Trading Apps After Australian Intervention
- Some binary trading apps ‘make outrageous claims’ ASIC says
- Cites cases where consumers aren’t able to withdraw funds
Binary code, artwork
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Apple Inc. and Google have removed over 300 so-called binary trading applications from their online stores after intervention by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, according to an ASIC statement on Tuesday.
The country’s securities regulator said it made the request to Apple and Google after numerous cases of fraud involving unlicensed operators of the apps, which encourage consumers to make bets on whether instruments like shares or currencies will rise or fall. While some are legitimate operations, there has been an explosion in unlicensed products operating across borders and beyond the reach of regulators in recent years.