The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has settled with Mount Nico Corp Ltd, the operator of the trading brand, eXcentral and NicoFX. The regulated company has already paid €290,000 as a part of the settlement for possible violation of regulations.
Announced on Tuesday, the Cypriot regulator detailed that the settlement was related to an investigation of the company between February 2020 and December 2020.
Though the market supervisor did not explicitly say that there were violations, It raised concerns about the possible violation of several areas of compliance .
The brokerage operator was suspected of violating the requirements of CIF authorization, lapses in identifying the target market and safeguarding client rights. It was also flagged for possible violation of clauses around conflict of interest and regarding the general principles and information addressed to clients, among others.
“CySEC, under article 37(4) of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Law of 2009, has the power to reach a settlement for any violation or possible violation, act or omission for which there is reasonable ground to believe that it took place in violation of the provisions of CySEC’s supervised legislation,” CySEC stated.
Two FX Brands
Mount Nico Corp gained the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license in 2014. It operates two forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) brands under the CIF license, one is eXcentral and the other is NicoFX.
However, the Limassol-headquartered company stopped accepting clients on NicoFX in June 2019, according to a notice on its website. In addition, it warned against several clones of the brand that are trying to dupe potential investors.
The brand eXcentral is operated by Mount Nico Corp only within the European Union. Furthermore, FX offers services internationally under a South African investment firm license, obtained by a local company, which is again owned by another Limassol-based parent firm.
