The Goldenburg Group, a retail brokerage firm, has been fined 170,000 euros ($189,800) by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ).
A statement released by the regulator indicates that the group, which runs the TopForex brand, failed to meet a number of compliance standards.
Most significantly, the company failed to keep adequate records of the services and transactions it has provided to customers. For that failing, the firm was fined 50,000 euros ($55,820).
Two 40,000 euro ($44,650) fines were also leveled at the firm for failing to meet Regulation pertaining to honest dealings with clients.
One of those fines was not specific in its scope as it referred only to a broad piece of legislation that says an investment firm must “act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of its clients.”
Marketing errors
The other 40,000 euro fine, however, was more specific. CySEC’s statement indicates that this one was given to the firm as it misled clients via its marketing activities.
CySEC also slapped a 30,000 euro ($33,500) onto the Goldenburg Group for failing to ensure that third-party companies used by the broker were meeting compliance standards.
As the law cited by CySEC is non-specific - it refers to any third-party service - it is unclear as to what companies the Goldenburg Group was working with that it didn’t adequately supervise.
A smaller 5,000 euro ($5,581) fine was put on the firm for failing to meet compliance standards regarding tied agents.
Under European law, tied agents are individuals or companies that promote investment firms services and can accept orders from clients to be undertaken by that investment firm.
Lastly, another 5,000 euro fine was put on the Goldenburg Group for having seemingly failed to properly inform CySEC that it was planning on opening a new office in a different jurisdiction.
