TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi in a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VI members on Monday said the government has closed binary option trading platforms as it believes these businesses have operated under improper permits.

“The permit is as a computer school [but in reality] gathers public funds. [Multi-level marketing] also gathers funds and uses money. Those are ponzi schemes. Arrest all of them, it’s done,” said the Minister in the meeting with legislators on January 31.

Binary options, according to him, is in the gray zone of legality as financial transactions that use effects should be monitored by the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Meanwhile, if transactions are related to commodities, then they should be overseen by the Trade Ministry's Futures Exchange Supervisory Board (Bappebti).

“They are operating in the middle,” he said.

This problem was brought up by Commission V legislator Hakim Bafagih after binary option trading caught traction in social media and became a hot topic of discussion. He believes the binary option should be categorized as gambling due to a lack of underlying assets.

“They speak about trading but it is gambling in actuality,” said Bafagih. “It’s highly possible manipulation is involved. How is the monitoring by Bappebti? Many have fallen victim. The [binary option] trade platforms don’t have permits. The public must know.”

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