February 5, 2020, | AtoZ Markets – The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) on Wednesday confirmed that it has wholly withdrawn the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) License of Whotrades Ltd, formerly known as FINAM, which holds the authorization number 073/06.
Whotrades applied for voluntary CIF license renunciation
The Cypriot watchdog made it clear that Whotrades's surrender of its CIF license is entirely voluntary. The company’s decision is not, however, related to any regulatory action by the CySEC. Although the regulator didn’t state why Whotrades has decided to say goodbye to its CIF authorization, it has recently seen many regulated brokers opt to voluntarily surrender their license.
CySEC no longer regulates Whotrades Ltd. Hence, the company will not be able to provide financial services to Cypriot residents. Under the Cypriot regulatory framework, the company must return all outstanding balances to its clients and handle all of their complaints.
Several firms have decided to renounce their CIF authorizations
Over the past several months, the CIF authorizations of a number of online trading firms have been withdrawn. In November 2019, for instance, CySEC withdrew the license of the investment firm AMFF Ltd. The withdrawal is due to the company’s decision to expressly renounce its CIF authorization.
As AtoZ Markets reported, CySEC decided to withdraw the CIF authorisation of Postscriptum Capital Ltd. The regulatory move reflects the company’s decision to expressly renounce the authorization.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below.