As a reviewer of binary options brokers in the industry, we noticed that one of the biggest worries which binary options traders have when trading the markets is the fear of not being able to withdraw their money. We find this quite concerning as it is only binary options traders that seem to have this type of issue. It is not the fear of trading losses that occupies their mind as you might suspect but instead the notion that once they deposit their money with the broker, they will have a hard time getting it back. If we were to take a step back and look at the spot forex trading industry, we find that spot forex traders are more concerned about the spreads more than anything else. Perhaps a big part of this concern among binary options traders came about as the result of worrying stories that many of them have read on the internet about binary options brokers not letting traders withdraw their funds.

While it is difficult to ascertain the validity of these stories, we noticed that most of these incidents revolve around unregulated binary options brokers.  Now due to the fact that the binary options trading industry is still evolving, regulation governing the trading of binary options is still a gray area in many jurisdictions. Nevertheless, regulatory oversight for binary options trading does exist in certain countries such as Japan, Cyprus, Malta and the United States. Generally, brokers which are regulated operate within a framework of guidelines designed to protect the interests of traders. They are also more inclined to act professionally as they run the risk of having their license suspended or revoked for any infractions of the regulations imposed by the regulatory authority. Hence, we have always recommended our readers and traders to only deal with regulated binary options brokers such as OptionFair so they never have to face any problems withdrawing their money.

OptionFair Background

A binary options trading brand owned by a company called B.O. Tradefinancials Ltd, OptionFair is one of today’s leading binary options broker. In fact, the broker is regarded as one of the pioneering brokers in the industry and holds the distinction of being the only platform owner and operator in the industry. This is due to the fact that OptionFair’s holding company B.O. Tradefinancials Ltd is actually a subsidiary of Techfinancials, a London Stock Exchange listed company and a major binary options trading platform provider.

Cornerstone of the Regulatory Framework

As a Cypriot based investment firm, OptionFair comes under the jurisdiction of the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC). It operates with the CIF license number #216/13. Being a regulated binary options broker, OptionFair is able to offer their clients a world of benefits which unregulated brokers are unable to offer to their traders. But before we go further into the kind of benefits that OptionFair is able to offer their traders, let’s take a look at regulations which governs OptionFair’s operations.

The foundations of the laws by which OptionFair operates by have their origin from the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2004/39/EC passed by the European Parliament. The objective of the MiFID was to provide for the harmonization of regulations governing the provision financial and investment services across member states in the European Economic Area (EEA). It also seeks to increase competition in the industry as well as provide more protection to the consumer in the area of investment services.

In essence, the scope of the MiFID covers the following:

• Passporting of Authorization

Companies which are regulated under the MiFID guidelines in their home state are legally permitted to use their MiFID authorization to provide their services to clients in other EU member states.

• Client Categorization

Under the MiFID, financial services providers are required to categorize their clients according to professional clients or retail clients. This is because retail clients are given increased levels of protection as opposed to professional clients.

• Client Order Handling

In addition, brokers are now required to capture relevant information to ensure that the broker is acting in their clients’ best interest as well as to show how different orders from different clients are being aggregated.

• Pre-Trade Transparency

Brokers are required to act with transparency with regards to pricings provided to their clients.

• Post-Trade Transparency

Brokers are also required to publish prices, trading volumes and the time of the trades of listed shares even if the orders were executed outside of a regulated market.

• Best Execution

Brokers are required under the guidelines issued by MiFID to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their clients’ trading orders are executed in the best manner especially with regards to speed and cost.

• Systematic Internaliser

Systematic Internalisers such as a broker that executes orders against its own book or against orders from other clients are regarded as mini exchanges and thus can be subjected to pre-trade and post-trade transparency requirements.

As Cyprus is part of the European Community, the country is obligated to follow the guidelines as stipulated in the MiFID with regard to regulating the financial services provider industry. Naturally, as OptionFair is under the jurisdiction of the CySEC, it needs to abide by all the regulatory requirements as laid out in the MiIFD and implemented by CySEC.

This meant all the funds that you have deposited with OptionFair must be kept in a solid financial institution such as Trier 1 banks. In addition, the funds must also be kept segregated from OptionFair’s operational funds. By doing so, your money is safeguarded from any possible abuses by OptionFair as well as from claims made by any creditors of OptionFair in the event of a lawsuit.

But most important of all when you deal with a regulated broker like OptionFair, your money is covered under the Investors Compensation Fund (ICF) scheme. This meant should ever OptionFair becomes insolvent, you can make a claim for compensation for an amount up to 20,000 euros.

With all the measures and regulatory requirements that are in place, you never have to worry about the safety of your funds when you deal with a reputable broker such as OptionFair. So given how safe your money can be at OptionFair, your next question is probably how easy is it to withdraw your money from OptionFair?

OptionFair Withdrawal

The withdrawal process at OptionFair is as straightforward as it can be. With OptionFair, you never have to worry about problems making a withdrawal. The first step toward making a withdrawal at OptionFair is to make sure that you have gone through the verification process.

Undergoing the Verification Process

The verification process is a process which all traders with regulated brokers have to go through as the brokers have to verify your identity. This is done to prevent any attempts to mask money laundering activities done under the pretext of trading the financial markets. In addition, the verification process is also done to protect the account from any withdrawals by unauthorized individuals who might have stolen your identity.

Documents Required

In order to establish your identity, you need to submit several documents to OptionFair such as copies of your passport or government-issued ID like a driving license or an identity card. These documents will help to verify you are who you said you are.

In addition to your identity, OptionFair will also need to verify your location. Verification of your address will require you to submit copies of your latest utility bills or bank statements. It should be noted that bills or statements submitted should not be older than 3 months and must show clearly on the bills you current address as well as your name.

If for any reasons you are unable to furnish all the necessary documents and verify your identity and address, then you will have tremendous difficulties in trying to withdraw your money. Many traders have complained about the verification process because they are required to submit so many documents and after doing so are still unable to withdraw their money. The fact of the matter is sometimes the traders simply do not provide the correct or valid documents which is why they run into trouble when trying to withdraw their money.

Making Your Withdrawal At Optionfair

After you have gone through the verification process, you should be able to make a withdrawal without any problems. To start the withdrawal process at OptionFair, simply log in to your trading account with your User ID and password. Once you have done that, go to the “My Account” section and specify the amount that you want to withdraw from your trading account.

Once you have submitted your withdrawal request, it will take about 3 to 5 business days for your withdrawal request to be processed. Once the withdrawal request has been approved, OptionFair will then transfer the withdrawal amount to your credit card or bank account depending on what methods was used to fund your trading account.

Normally, the method of withdrawal will be the same as the method used to fund the trading account. If you had used your credit card to fund your trading account, then the withdrawal will be initiated through the same method. However, traders should take note that the amount withdrawn through the credit card cannot exceed the amount that was deposited using the credit card. For example, if you deposited $1000 into your trading account with your credit card, then the maximum amount that can be withdrawn through your credit card is also $1000. If the amount withdrawn exceeded the amount deposited, then the excess amount will be transferred using bank wire transfer.

OptionFair does not impose any minimum withdrawal amount on their clients and this gives their traders the freedom to withdraw whatever amount they want from their trading account. In addition, there is no fee imposed for the withdrawal made, provided it is not more than once per calendar month. Any subsequent withdrawals made within the same calendar month will incur a service fee of $30 for each withdrawal made.

Apart from bank wire transfer and credit cards, withdrawals can also be made through the following methods listed below depending on where the trader is physically located.

• Abaqoos
• China Union Pay
• iDeal
• Neteller
• QIWI
• Skrill
• WebMoney
• Western Union

OptionFair pays a tremendous amount of attention to their withdrawal process to ensure that their traders are not burdened in any way. They understand that they are dealing with an international clientele base and not all of them have the same access to the same withdrawal methods. Hence, they have provided various methods which you can use to withdraw your money with. Our review of OptionFair has shown that they have some of the best customer service around when it comes to withdrawal. and they have never been known to act fraudulently with regards to their clients’ money.

References/Further Reading:

1. Strategic networks (Gulati, R., Nohria, N. and Zaheer, A)
2.  Money in electronic commerce: digital cash, electronic fund transfer, and Ecash (Patiwat Panurach)
3. Method and apparatus for evaluating and sorting sheets in a high speed manner ( Stephen J. Horvath, Steven R. Wilcox)
4. System, method and article of manufacture for exchanging software and configuration data over a multichannel, extensible, flexible architecture (Jay C. Weber, Kevin T. B. Rowney, Glenn A. Kramer)
5. A Monetary Equilibrium Model with Transactions Costs (Julio J. Rotemberg)
6. Rereading “Cady, Roberts”: The Ideology and Practice of Insider Trading Regulation (Donald C. Langevoort)
7. The Optimal Regulation of Insider Trading (Jhinyoung Shin)
8. Insider Trading Regulation: The Path Dependent Choice between Property Rights and Securities (Fraud Stephen M. Bainbridge)
9. Start Making Sense: An Analysis and Proposal for Insider Trading Regulation (Jill E.Fish)
10. Insider Trading as a Transactional Cost: A Market Micostructure Justification and Optimization of Insider Trading Regulation (Nicolas L. Georgakopolus)
11. Does insider trading regulation deter private information trading? International evidence (Art A. Durnev, Amrita S. Nain)
12. Transgovernmental Networks and Domestic Policy Convergence: Evidence from Insider Trading Regulation (David Bach and Abraham L. Newman)
13. INSIDER TRADING, REGULATION, AND THE COMPONENTS OF THE BID–ASK SPREAD (Bart Frijns, Aaron Gilbert, Alireza Tourani-Rad)
14. The Effectiveness of Insider Trading Regulation in Italy. Evidence from Stock-Price Run-Ups Around Announcements of Corporate Control Transactions (Nadia Linciano)
15. Insider Trading Regulation and the Production of Information: Theory and Evidence (James D.Cox)
16. Insider trading: Regulation, securities markets, and welfare under risk aversion  (Javier Estrada)
17. Statutory Findings and Insider Trading Regulation (Steve THel)
18. Futures trading and cash market volatility: Stock index and interest rate futures (Franklin R. Edwards)
19. Market Microstructure and Market Efficiency (Paul G. Mahoney)
20. Alternative commodity trading vehicles: A performance analysis (Thomas Schneeweis, Uttama Savanayana, David McCarthy)