The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) has issued a communique announcing the full suspension of the licenses of the parent company of SkyFX and Capital Option. The decision was taken at a board meeting of the watchdog on the 25th of April and is a follow up to the regulator's decision from February 2016.
SkyFX and Capital Option are brands that have been operated by now former Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) Trademarker (Cyprus) Ltd. According to the statement by the regulator the Executive Director of the company, Mr Aviv Tal Mor, is not a suitable person to be operating a CIF.
The regulator also highlighted that Mr Aviv Tal Mor is the sole shareholder of the company, and is not suitable to ensure the sound and prudent management of the firm due to an Israeli court appointing a liquidator for the companies owned by Mr Aviv Tal Mor due to his possible involvement in illegal acts relating to the financial sector.
The announcement is yet another case in which the transparency of the Cypriot regulator is highly questionable. The watchdog has taken a full month to make the announcement public without providing any explanation. In a similar fashion, in December 2015, CySEC bundled a number of fine announcements into a single package of announcements on a Friday afternoon.
With the announcement being public, the parent company and its brand should cease to provide investment and ancillary services and settle. SkyFX and Capital Option have three months to settle their obligations with clients and solve any arising complaints.
CySEC has highlighted that it considers the money claimed by the complainants as clients’ money and consequently, the company should ensure that this is kept in a separate bank account until all complains are investigated.
The website on Capital Option is currently unaccessible, while the notice on the website of SkyFX states that the license of the company was withdrawn in February 2016 for 15 days. The CySEC stated in its announcement that the company should place a public announcement on the websites about how clients can withdraw their money, and should remove any content that claims that the company is regulated by the Cypriot watchdog.
