The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced today that the new restrictions on the provision of contracts for differences (CFDs) to retail investors will take effect as of August, 1. The measures include a leverage cap of 1:30, as well as provision of negative balance protection on a per account basis, among others. Additionally, ESMA also introduces a ban on binary options trading as of July 2, 2018. The new regulations have already been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) and will remain in force for three months from the date of application. More specifically, the restrictions on the provision of CFDs to retail clients include.