The Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority has shifted its existing product intervention on binary options and contracts for difference (CFDs) for non-professional investors to a new legal basis, using a general ruling from 1 February 2025 while keeping the substantive measures unchanged. The intervention continues to prohibit the marketing, distribution and sale of certain binary options to non-professional investors in and from Liechtenstein, and to allow the marketing, distribution and sale of CFDs to non-professional investors only subject to specified conditions. The change reflects the total revision of the Banking Act and the broader redesign of financial market law, under which product intervention will be newly regulated in line with Regulation (EU) No. 600/2014, with the FMA using the general ruling instrument under Article 25 of the Financial Market Supervision Act. The FMA will not provide individual notifications, citing the large number of affected parties domiciled in Switzerland and other EEA countries.
Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority 2025-02-01
Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority reissues retail binary options ban and CFD conditions via a general ruling from 1 February 2025
The Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority has transitioned its product intervention on binary options and CFDs for non-professional investors to a new legal basis, effective 1 February 2025, while maintaining existing measures. This aligns with the revised Banking Act and financial market law, using a general ruling under Article 25 of the Financial Market Supervision Act. The intervention restricts binary options and conditionally permits CFDs for non-professional investors.