2019-05-28
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) issued this regulation to implement product intervention measures for binary options and contracts for difference (CFDs) sold to retail clients. The rule prohibits the marketing of binary options unless specific safety conditions are met and imposes strict requirements on CFD providers, including mandatory initial margins, negative balance protection, and bans on client incentives. Additionally, the regulation mandates provider-specific risk warnings based on calculated loss percentages and applies these measures to products marketed in Austria from May 30, 2019.
All English translation of the authentic German text is unofficial and serves merely information purposes. The official wording in German can be found in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt; BGBl.). All translations have been prepared with great care, but linguistic compromises had to be made. The reader should also bear in mind that some provisions of these laws will remain unclear without certain background knowledge of the Austrian legal and political system. Please note that these laws may be amended in the future and check occasionally for updates. FMA Regulation on Product Intervention Measures (FMA-PIV; FMA-Produktinterventionsverordnung) Full title Regulation of the Financial Market Authority (FMA) on Product Intervention Measures (FMAProduktinterventionsverordnung – FMA-PIV) Original version: Federal Law Gazette II No. 118/2019 Preamble / Promulgation Clause Based on Article 90 para. 3 no. 15 in conjunction with para. 8 of the Securities Supervision Act of 2018 (WAG 2018; Wertpapieraufsichtsgesetz 2018) published in Federal Law Gazette I No. 107/2017 most recently amended by Federal Act in Federal Law Gazette I No. 37/2018, and Article 4 paras. 3 and 4 of the PRIIP Enforcement Act (PRIIP-VollzugsG; PRIIP-Vollzugsgesetz), published in Federal Law Gazette I No. 15/2018 in the version of the corrigendum published in Federal Law Gazette I No. 27/2019, the following shall be determined by Regulation: Text Subject of the Regulation Article 1. This Regulation shall serve to determine product intervention measures
All English translation of the authentic German text is unofficial and serves merely information purposes. The official wording in German can be found in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt; BGBl.). All translations have been prepared with great care, but linguistic compromises had to be made. The reader should also bear in mind that some provisions of these laws will remain unclear without certain background knowledge of the Austrian legal and political system. Please note that these laws may be amended in the future and check occasionally for updates. 3. “Contracts for Difference (CFDs)” means derivatives in the form of a financial contract for differences, the purpose of which exists in providing the holder with a long or short position with regard to fluctuations of price, exchange rate or value of an underlying, and which fulfils the following conditions, irrespective of whether or not it is traded at a trading venue pursuant to Article 1 no. 26 WAG 2018: a) the contract for differences does not at the same time fulfil the conditions for an option, a future, swap or forward rate agreement and b) the contract for difference must be settled in cash or may be settled in cash at the option of one of the parties other than by reason of default or other termination event. 4. “virtual currency” means a virtual currency pursuant to Article 3 (18) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC and Directive 2006/70/EC, OJ L 141, 05.06.2015, p. 73, in the version of Directive (EU) 2018/843, OJ L 156, 19.06.2018, p. 43. Prohibition and Restrictions Article 3. (1) The marketing, distribution or sale to retail clients of binary options to retail clients shall be prohibited pursuant to Article 90 para. 3 no. 1 in conjunction with para. 8 WAG 2018, provided that the binary option does not fulfil one of the following conditions:
All English translation of the authentic German text is unofficial and serves merely information purposes. The official wording in German can be found in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt; BGBl.). All translations have been prepared with great care, but linguistic compromises had to be made. The reader should also bear in mind that some provisions of these laws will remain unclear without certain background knowledge of the Austrian legal and political system. Please note that these laws may be amended in the future and check occasionally for updates. h) the underlying is a virtual currency: 50%; 2. the provider guarantees that it will close one or several open financial contracts for difference of the retail client under the most favourable conditions for the client pursuant to Articles 47 and 62 WAG 2018, where the total of funds held in the CFD trading account and the unrealised net profits of all open financial contracts for difference that are associated with this CFD trading account falls below half the total amount of the initial margins, that is prescribed for all of these open financial contracts for difference (margin close-out protection); 3. the provider guarantees that the aggregate liability of a retail client for all financial contracts for difference associated with the same CFD trading account is limited to the amount of the balance in the CFD trading account (negative balance protection); 4. the provide neither directly nor indirectly grants a payment or another monetary benefit or nonmonetary benefit in relation to the marketing, distribution or sale of a financial contract for difference (client incentive programmes); the aforementioned benefits do not include a) the realised profits of the retail client provided in relation to all financial contracts for difference and b) the provision of information and research tools, provided that they relate to contracts for difference; 5. the provider neither directly or indirectly sends a communication to the retail client for the marketing, distribution or sale of a financial contract for difference and also does not publish such information in an accessible manner for a retail client, unless the communication or information contains a risk warning pursuant Annex 1. Temporal or Geographical Scope of Application Article 4. (1) Article 3 para. 1 shall apply to binary options that are marketed, distributed or sold from 30 May 2019 in or from Austria. (2) Article 3 para. 2 shall apply to contracts for difference that are marketed, distributed or sold from 30 May 2019 in or from Austria. Entry into Force Article 5. This Regulation shall enter into force on 15 May 2019.
All English translation of the authentic German text is unofficial and serves merely information purposes. The official wording in German can be found in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt; BGBl.). All translations have been prepared with great care, but linguistic compromises had to be made. The reader should also bear in mind that some provisions of these laws will remain unclear without certain background knowledge of the Austrian legal and political system. Please note that these laws may be amended in the future and check occasionally for updates. Annex 1 Risk Warning Section 1 Risk warning conditions (1) Where the risk warning occurs
All English translation of the authentic German text is unofficial and serves merely information purposes. The official wording in German can be found in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt; BGBl.). All translations have been prepared with great care, but linguistic compromises had to be made. The reader should also bear in mind that some provisions of these laws will remain unclear without certain background knowledge of the Austrian legal and political system. Please note that these laws may be amended in the future and check occasionally for updates. Section 2 Provider-specific risk warning on a durable medium or a website CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. [Insert percentage pursuant to para. 3 of Section 1] % of retail client accounts lose money when trading in CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Section 3 Abbreviated provider-specific risk warning [Insert percentage pursuant to para. 3 of Section 1] % of retail client accounts lose money when trading in CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Section 4 Provider-specific risk warning with character limit [Insert percentage pursuant to para. 3 of Section 1] % of our CFD retail client accounts lose money! Section 5 Standard risk warning on a durable medium or a website CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The vast majority of retail client accounts lose money when trading in CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Section 6 Abbreviated standard risk warning The vast majority of retail client accounts lose money when trading in CFDs. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Section 7 Standard risk warning with character limit CFD retail client accounts generally lose money!