The Indian securities market regulator has partnered with Google to put a “verified” badge on locally regulated trading apps available on the Indian Play Store. Although the regulator said that the label will also be extended to apps of other regulated intermediaries, it remains unclear whether offshore-regulated contracts for differences (CFDs) brokers will be able to receive it.How Will the “Verified” Badge Impact CFD Apps?CFD brokers are not regulated in India, but their operations are also not outright illegal. The area where they clearly break the law is when taking payments, as Indian forex laws restrict the movement of funds outside the country for trading.The forex payments breach also comes under the purview of the Indian central bank, and not the securities market regulator.India is a big market for CFD brokers, but companies operating there have become cautious over the years. Multiple major brands have pulled their services out of the country following actions by local authorities against some platforms.[#highlighted-links#]With the “verified” label, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) aims to tackle the issue of fraudulent trading apps, as scammers even “impersonate genuine apps that eventually deceive gullible investors into believing that their investments made through the fake apps are directed to the regulated securities market.”Currently, the search engine giant has put the verified badge on over 600 Indian trading apps.About a year ago, the regulator rolled out a new payment verification system designed to help retail investors distinguish between legitimate brokers and unauthorised entities operating in the country’s financial markets.Fight Against FinfluencersSEBI also asked Google to use its artificial intelligence to track finfluencers who are breaching local regulations.“We have also requested Google to actively take up their own AI measures, and we will help them develop them so they can track those influencers who transgress our regulations,” said SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey during the launch of the “verified” app initiative yesterday (Wednesday).Read more: How Prop Firms Win India Without Saying ‘Forex’ or ‘CFDs’He also revealed that the regulator is actively monitoring digital platforms for misleading investment content and has flagged more than 130,000 instances, which were eventually escalated for takedown.Furthermore, around 66 cases of fake trading apps have been flagged on app stores and taken down.Interestingly, many Indian finfluencers are openly promoting CFD trading, despite these apps operating in the country in a grey area. It remains to be seen whether the curb on illegal financial content will apply to these finfluencers as well.This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.