Regulators from provincial securities commissions across Canada have formed a task force after an Edmonton business owner ended his life after losing almost $330,000 to a binary-option scam.
The schemes have become the most widespread securities fraud across Canada targeting individual investors. In 2016, they resulted in more than 800 reports and inquiries. Investors are told binary options are bets on how an underlying financial asset will perform, when in reality there are no trading activities and the schemes are outright frauds.
There are no binary options sites that are registered to trade in Canada and regulators have issued public warnings to investors.
Read more at The Globe and Mail
