The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission has once again stepped up its fight against unauthorized brokers. The Cypriot regulator today published a warning against five brands, which were just blacklisted for facilitating trading in FX and Cryptocurrencies without being authorized to do so in the country.
The CySEC added that some of these brands are misleadingly claiming affiliation other brokers that are already regulated in Cyprus and hold its CIF License. The watchdog has blacklisted the following domains:
24bitx.com
growthandlegacyukfx.com
www.CMliveExperts.com
www.apollotradexcoexcurrency.com
concept4x.com
While many providers claim to be Cyprus-based, the CySEC said previously it believed such companies were based overseas and providing false addresses, adding that it would look into taking further action if companies were actually based within the country.
After several months of pause, the Cypriot regulator is once again flexing their muscles and actively finding compliance irregularities. Most recently, it has fined XTrade Europe Ltd €200,000 due to shortcomings in the company’s anti-money laundering programs.
Crypto platforms face tighter AML rules
The Cysec has also suspended several forex brokers that were caught up in promoting their risky products in the UK. The watchdog dropped the hammer after its UK counterpart said the brands including iTrader and tradeATF, Magnum FX (Cyprus) Ltd, 24option and F1Markets Ltd used fake celebrity endorsements for their products on social media.
Also earlier last year, the CySEC warned of fraudsters that are claiming to be representatives of the regulator in an attempt to solicit personal information from consumers and scam investors.
On the crypto front, the Cypriot watchdog revealed in 2019 details about its efforts to regulate crypto assets, hinting more discussions might already be underway. The CySEC increased oversight of cryptocurrencies and related assets by integrating EU anti-money-laundering rules into the Cypriot laws.
