February 2, 2021 | AtoZ Markets – The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission CySEС announced that it reached an agreement with another Cyprus Investment Company (CIF), Goldenburg Group Limited, which manages numerous OTC brands, in connection with possible violations of the Law on Investment Services, Activities and Regulated Markets.
As a result of the agreement reached, the Civil Code paid a fine of €270,000.
CySEC reached a €270.000 settlement with Goldenburg Group Ltd
The Cypriot financial regulator said in a statement that, in accordance with the provisions of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Law, the regulator can reach a settlement agreement in respect of any breach or potential breach, act, or omission committed by a CySEC regulated company.
The regulator recalls that from January 2018 to October 2020, an investigation was carried out in relation to the specified company related to the failure to comply with the following CySEC requirements:
- Articles 26 (3) of the Law, concerning the requirements for customer conformity assessment;
- Article 22 (1) on the conditions for authorization of the CIF. In particular, Articles 17 (2) and 17 (7) of the Law relate to the CIF's obligations in relation to organizational requirements;
- Article 24 (1) concerning conflicts of interest;
- Articles 25 (1) and (3) on general principles for informing clients.
- Article 40 of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 on the powers of temporary intervention of ESMA, in particular, decision ESMA (EU) 2018/796, on the introduction of temporary restrictions on CFDs for retail customers in the European Union, includes requirements for limiting the maximum leverage for retail clients to 1:30, for specified products, protection against closing by margin call, as well as requirements related to the sale and distribution of CFDs to retail clients.
It is noted that all amounts payable in connection with settlement agreements are considered income of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus and are not income of the CySEC regulator.
Goldenburg Group manages multiple Forex brands
According to the register of the Cypriot regulator, 9 brands are registered for Goldenburg Group Limited: Goldenburg Group; TopForex; TopTrader; FX GLOBAL (it is noteworthy that the site of this brand operates exclusively in the Czech language); TradeCentrum; ETRADER; TopBinary (doesn't work); xPartners; CFD WORLD. The company received a Cyprus license back in July 2014.
We also recall that the Cypriot regulator has already called the company that manages the TopForex brand to an unpleasant conversation. Then, in May 2019, the OTC Brands Group paid a fine of 170,000 euros for violations of a number of requirements. Apparently, this amount was now insufficient.
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