Forex TB Pays €270k to CySEC to Settle Possible Violations

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) says Forex TB, a contract for difference (CFD) broker, has paid €270,000 to settle its possible violations of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017.

CySEC, which announced the settlement on Thursday, said the decision was reached by its Board on May 23.

The Cypriot financial industry watchdog explained that the investigation for which the settlement was reached involved an assessment of the Cyprus Investment Firm’s (CIF) compliance record.

The record covers the period between April 2020 and December 2021.

The assessment was to be a follow-up to Forex TB's internal audit report released in April 2021.

Additionally, CySEC explained that its investigation was to assess the CIF for Article 5(1) of the Investment Services Law regarding the requirement of CIF authorisation.

In addition, it was to cover, among others, Article 24(1) of the Law regarding conflicts of interest.

CySEC explained, “The settlement reached with the Company [Forex TB], for the possible violations, is for the amount of €270.000, which the Company has already paid.

“It is noted that the amounts due to settlement agreements are calculated as revenue (income) to the Treasury of the Republic and do not constitute income of CySEC.”

Settlements and Sanctions

CySEC this year has reached a number of settlements with various entities.

The Cypriot regulator announced last week on Tuesday that it had reached a €150,000 settlement with the forex and CFD broker Credit Financier Invest (CFI) Limited for a possible violation of compliance regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terror financing.

Last month, CySEC agreed to a settlement of €100,000 with Finteractive Limited, the operator of trading brand FXVC, for possible regulatory violations.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the market supervisor slapped administrative sanctions on the current and former directors of Maxigrid.

Maxigrid operates the retail FX and CFD trading brands, Dualix and AGM Markets.

Furthermore, the regulator slapped a monetary penalty of €200,000 on Roy Almagor. Almagor is a shareholder and former Non-Executive President of Maxigrid’s Board.

In early June, CySEC withdrew the Investors Compensation Fund (ICF) membership of two companies, Hoch Capital Limited and ED&F MAN Capital Markets CEEMA Limited.

The memberships of the two companies were revoked following the withdrawal of their CIF licenses.

Hoch Capital’s license was withdrawn after the company voluntarily decided to renounce it.

Meanwhile, CySEC in a decision taken on March 28 initiated the compensation payment process for the clients of Maxigrid Limited under the ICF.

The Cypriot financial body provides protection to individual investors’ deposits under the ICF scheme.

The compensation scheme permits protection of up to €20,000, to shield investors in a situation where a CIF goes bankrupt.