The Cypriot regulatory watchdog has again exhibited its authority within the market. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has this time fined the binary options broker Banc de Binary, the underlying reason for this action has to do with the flaws in business dealings of Banc de Binary. This makes the second time that the binary options broker will incur a penalty for a breach of the regulator's rules.
As CySEC fines Banc de Binary, this time the regulator has slammed Banc de Binary with a marked up fine of EUR 20,000 for a dual breach of CySEC business clauses. The first breach constitutes a fine of €10,000, which was levied as a result of violations of Article 6 (9) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law. Basically this penalty defines that the binary options broker has been caught offering other operational services, which are not included in the coverage of its CIF license.
The second breach, which resulted in the remaining €10,000 fine was in relation to failure of the binary options firm to fully disclose its ties to another business enterprise. This is in violation of Article 28 (1), which clearly outlines that: “A CIF must at all times comply with the conditions under which authorisation was granted”. This is also in relation to Article 14 of the Law which states that “Where close links exist between the applicant and other persons, the Commission shall grant a CIF authorisation, only if those links do not prevent the effective exercise of its supervisory functions.”
The total amount of fines that has been levied against Banc de Binary is considered to be high, due to the fact that it actually represents the second instance that the binary options broker has gotten into trouble with CySEC, over this similar issue. Back in 2014, Banc de Binary already was fined €10,000 for concealing information about its other business dealings.
Noteworthy, is that CySEC has recently updated its regulations in regards to websites of Cypriot Investment Firms (CIFs). The new rules create a broader platform to fight against clone websites and many sorts of fraudulent schemes.