One website per regulator should be standard

One of the most deplorable business practices in retail forex is the regulator bait-and-switch.

Oftentimes a broker will advertise and promote that it's regulated in reputable region (or at least a passable one). But once a user lands on the page and begins to navigate, they're redirected to a part of the site that's regulated by someone less-reputable to open an account.

If you're planning to open a forex account, it's something you need to watch out for.

Cyprus has become a hotbed of forex brokers because it's in the EU and Eurozone but had less stringent regulations than some other financial centres. That's beginning to change.

Cyprus' financial regulator, CySEC, announced a policy change last month on redirects. They said Cyprus-regulated firms "must ensure that they operate only through the websites addresses notified to the CySEC and posted on its website."

They must now use a domain name that is unique and not used by another company regulated by a different broker. Unfortunately, CySEC has allowed some minor exceptions but it's a step in the right direction.

Ideally, we'd like to see requirements that make it abundantly clear which regulator the user is doing business with and redirects are only allowed when it's impossible for a user to become a client in that region.

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