The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) has announced a public tender that is inviting communications and media relations professionals to assist the watchdog in handling European and international media.
According to an official announcement on the government’s official eProcurement website, which serves as an electronic database for conducting public procurement procedures for the purchase of goods, works or services by the Cypriot government, the tender is expected to close on the 16th of June.
Recent events related to CySEC’s public image across the European Union and globally must have prompted the regulator to seek outside help. According to the tender, the contract is valued at up to €180,000. The term of the contract is not specified in the announcement.
A number of clients of IronFX have been actively engaging in campaigns to discredit the authority of the Cypriot watchdog, an effort which culminated last Thursday at the iFX Expo in Limassol. After a speech by the Chairwoman of the CySEC, Demetra Kalogerou, a man asserting to be a client of IronFX disrupted the event by loudly criticizing the regulator for failing to meet its mandate.
Finance Magnates: a protester disrupts Demetra Kalogerou's speech at the iFX Expo in Limassol
CySEC, which was launched in 2001, is the financial regulator on the island responsible for supervising and making sure that Cyprus Investment Companies (CIFs) adhere to fair conduct. Other European financial regulators, such as the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has openly criticized business conduct by companies that the Cypriot watchdog is overseeing.
In the past, prominent financial industry publications such as the Financial Times FT Alphaville column have openly ridiculed the regulator and some companies operating from Cyprus, when CySEC first issued its relatively major fines after almost 15 years in existence.
With its move, CySEC is aiming to clear its image in the media. In order for that to happen however, the Cypriot watchdog might start by publishing the decisions from its board meetings in real time, right after they have been taken, instead of with severalweeks or months of delays which has become the norm for the watchdog in recent quarters.
