The Cyprus Securities and Investment Commission (CySEC) has withdrawn the operational license of FF Simple and Smart Trades Investment Services Ltd, which operated multiple forex and contracts for difference (CFDs) brands, the regulatory announced on Wednesday.

CySEC Renounces TradoCenter and Toro Invest Operator’s License

FF Simple and Smart Trades Investment Services controls at least two FX/CFDs broker brands: TradoCenter and Toro Invest. They offered margin forex trading and CFDs to retail and professional clients. The brokerage operator used its CySEC approval to run both of these platforms.

Apart from the English-speaking traders, Toro Invest targeted Italians as it offered services in the Italian language, while TradoCenter had its services in Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and Polish, showing its focus on regional European traders.

The withdrawal came as the company itself decided to renounce its Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license, thus terminating its operations. It terminated offering trading services on 7 August 2022.

“The Company would like to announce its decision that, as of 07th August, 2022, it will no longer be providing investment services,” a notice on the trading platforms read.

Though CySEC announced its decision on Wednesday, its board approved it in a meeting held on 28 November 2022.

Check out the opening keynote of CySEC Chair, Dr George Theocharides, at iFX EXPO International 2022.

Cyprus – The Favourite Island of Brokers

Due to its less-intensive regulatory regime, Cyprus is one of the preferred jurisdictions for brokers wanting to enter the European markets. As the Mediterranean island is a European Union member, any CIF holder can passport their CySEC approval to operate anywhere in the European Economic Area.

Most recently, Swissquote received a CIF license for its local Cypriot subsidiary to strengthen its services within Europe further.

However, the European financial market supervisor, ESMA, raised concerns last year over the slacks of CySEC in its supervisory role. As a result, the Cypriot regulator has strengthened its supervision over the brokerage industry.

It is actively flagging illegal and fraudulent platforms offering services within its jurisdiction and slapping monetary fines on regulated companies for compliance lapses. In recent months, CySEC settled with BCM Begin Capital Markets and Royal Forex for €100,000 and €120,000, respectively, for possible compliance breaches.