The Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), the Dutch financial regulatory body, has launched a consultation on the ban on advertisement of risky investment instruments, such as binary options, contracts for difference (CFDs), futures and warrants. The regulator emphasizes on the harm caused by instruments with leverage of 10:1 or higher. Consumers can lose money quickly when trading in the above-listed instruments, which the AFM calls “toxic”. Long-term investment does not yield good profits, either. The regulator’s move is an important step in the fight against harmful financial products to which retail ... (full story)