If you are a financial expert specializing in identifying potential regulatory violations, CySEC may have a job for you. The Cyprus financial market regulator posted a new public tender this week worth €140,000 for a '13+13 months' period. However, you need to hurry as applications can only be submitted until August 4th.

CySEC Is Looking for an Investigation Expert

On the official public tender website of the Cyprus government, a post titled 'Provision of expert services for the investigation of potential violations of the legislation by CIFs' appeared this week.

The tender written in Greek reveals that CySEC wants to purchase expert services for conducting investigations that lead to the detection of potential breaches committed by Cypriot Investment Firms (CIFs) regulated by the institution. This group includes all retail foreign exchange (FX), contracts for difference (CFDs) brokers, and cryptocurrency industry firms.

However, the public tender is poor in details. It only shows that a request for clarification of details can be submitted until 17 July, and CySEC is waiting for final applications until 4 August. The regulator wants to allocate up to €140,000 for expert services, and the evaluation mechanism for applicants will be based on the ratio between the best price and the quality offered.

CySEC's public tender. Source: eprocurement.gov.cy

In a search for more detailed information, Finance Magnates noted that CySEC posted a public tender with precisely the same title in September 2022. At that time, it offered €100,000. Moreover, the descriptive part of the notice was more extended. CySEC was seeking the services of one expert who could serve as an investigative officer, conduct investigations, and submit findings to the Council of the Commission.

Finance Magnates contacted the market watchdog to obtain more details on the offering. The press office provided the following response:

“CySEC is looking for an external expert to conduct investigations regarding possible violations of the existing legislation by Cypriot Investment Services Firms. All the details are included at the 'Tender 11/2023 regarding the Provision of expert services for the investigation of potential violations of the legislation by CIFs'. This is part of CySEC’s effort to enhance its supervision with additional resources,” Eleni Nicolaou from the CySEC’s Department of Strategy, International Relations and Communications, answered.

An official document in Greek was also attached to the response, which described the subject of the contract in more detail. It lists six points, specifies that information must be conveyed in Greek, and clarifies the place of contract fulfilment at the premises of the contracting party, the contractor, and the supervised companies.

According to the file seen by Finance Magnates, the expert would be responsible for implementing decisions, gathering information, conducting inspections, receiving deposits, and preparing letters and memos related to potential violations of relevant laws. In addition, he would provide expertise to the Market Research and Monitoring Department of CySEC and conduct internal training seminars on topics within the expert's field of expertise.

This is not the most expensive tender announced by CySEC. In 2016, the regulator announced a tender worth €180,000 for crisis management services. So far, CySEC has notified about 15 public tenders through the government portal, the first of which took place in 2017.

Supervision: Important Part of CySEC's Operations

CIFs are currently the largest group of companies supervised by the institution. According to a report summarizing 2022, there were 837 regulated entities. Additionally, the regulator revealed that it would oversee social financing providers and individual retirement products as part of its expanded supervisory powers.

"During 2022, a total of 86 applications for licenses were approved for all types of entities under the supervision of CySEC. CySEC rejected 6 applications for Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs) licenses and a further 15 applications were withdrawn, including applications for CIF licences and collective investments," CySEC commented.

More companies also mean more inspections conducted. In 2022, the CySEC Supervision Department carried out a series of CIFs audits, including 359 remote, thematic, and on-site controls. In addition, the Department monitored the implementation of transaction and derivative contract reporting requirements.

Furthermore, CySEC conducted 119 remote document inspections, monitored Collective Investment Institutions' requirements, and monitored CIFs' online marketing practices. Administrative fines imposed by CySEC amounted to approximately €2.9 million, with the majority of penalties and settlements targeting CIFs. In the last decade, settlements and fines imposed by the Cypriot regulator reached €34.2 million.

The latest settlement took place this week. BrokerCreditService (BCS) Cyprus, an institutional broker and investment firm, has paid €100,000 to the Cyprus securities watchdog to settle 'possible violations' of the European Union's market abuse laws and Cyprus' market rules.