“We feel responsible to our users, so we have made every effort to provide timely clarification of the issues raised by Apple. I would also like to thank the traders, brokers and media who have actively expressed their support.”
MetaQuotes has announced that the iOS versions of their flagship products, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, have been reinstated after months of suspension due to security vulnerabilities and various MT4/5 frauds.
According to the developer of the trading software, during the lengthy process of restoring the apps, MetaQuotes provided extensive explanations to Apple on operational technical details and provided further insights as requested.
“We managed to find an agreement with Apple”
All matters have been resolved and the iOS applications of MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, which are fully compliant with Apple’s requirements, are now available for download from the App Store, the company said.
Renat Fatkhullin, CEO of MetaQuotes, commented: “We are pleased that the situation has been resolved and that we have been able to reach an agreement with Apple. Our company respects the requirements of each market and always strives to comply. We feel responsible for our users, so we have done our best to provide timely clarification on the issues raised by Apple. I would also like to thank the merchants, brokers and media who have actively expressed their support.”
The suspension of MT4/5 from the Apple Store has been one of the hottest topics of 2022 and led many brokers to reevaluate their reliance on a single trading platform provider. The popularity of MetaTrader led to standardization, making it easy and cheap to set up the technology portion of a brokerage. This helped create a large retail FX/CFD market that made trading possible for everyone.
However, this has weakened brokers’ differentiation capabilities, posing an increased risk for them. It also led to more bad actors, who rip off customers through lead lists because customers are loyal to the platform, not the broker.
Apple has never been public about the reasons for MetaQuotes suspending the products, but it came on the heels of extensive reporting and police investigations into FX scams using MT4 and MT5.
One of the most high-profile cases was covered by Forbes in September 2022 about super scam ‘Pig Butchering’ and how it used MetaTrader to scam investors. Apple spokesperson Adam Dema told Forbes that the company was investigating complaints about MetaTrader and would take additional action if necessary to protect App Store users.
Prior to the suspension, MetaQuotes attempted to address the abuse by making it more difficult for white-label providers to onboard customers.