The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) has just announced that it has reached a settlement with AFX Capital Markets Ltd, the Cypriot arm of AFX Markets Ltd, fining the firm €50,000 for violating the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law.
According to the watchdog’s statement, the violations related to non-compliance with the Section 28(1) of the Directive 144(Ι)/2007, and in particular with the conditions laid down in sections 18(2)(d) and 18(2)(g) of the Cyprus investment law.
The said articles of Cypriot law often govern the information provided on firms’ websites. In similar cases, CySEC fined some brokers for providing misleading information on its marketing material either through its website or the call centers to which it had outsourced the customer service. This may also include the failure to maintain an internal operation manual or orderly records of the information related to the assessment of its marketing materials.
In other cases, the violation of this section arises when the information provided on the broker’s website was not appropriate or sufficient to allow clients to reasonably understand the nature and risks of the investment service that the company offers.
AFX Capital is regulated by CySEC and therefore has to comply with Cypriot regulations in order to maintain its CIF trading license, which enables the broker to offer its services across Europe, the watchdog stated.
Following such settlements, CySEC often orders the company to take corrective measures within a set framework. Otherwise, additional measures will be taken such as the imposition of new fines, or suspension and/or even the withdrawal of their licenses.
However, it is important to note that fines are usually issued within six months of an inspection, so at the point of the fine, the majority of issues should have already been resolved.
