The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has extended Petros Zachariades' suspension from his ownership and management duties at Crowd Tech Ltd, which operated the forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) broker brand trade360.com.

Actions Against Petros Zachariades

The announcement yesterday (Monday) detailed that Zachariades has been suspended from exercising his voting rights, which are attached to the Crowd Tech shares he holds. He is Crowd Tech's sole shareholder. Furthermore, he has been prohibited from exercising management duties on the Board of Directors.

The prohibition against Zachariades was first imposed in January 2023 and has been extended multiple times. In its original decision, CySEC pointed out that Zachariades' influence was “prejudicial to sound and prudent management.”

Previously known as MPF Global Markets Ltd, Crowd Tech operated Trade360 under the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license. However, the company has voluntarily renounced its Cyprus license, which is now under regulatory review.

A Troubled Broker

Apart from the Cyprus-based operator of Trade360, the Australian company that managed the FX and CFDs broker brand also faced difficult times in recent years. As Finance Magnates reported earlier, Sirius Financial Markets, which operated Trade360 in Australia, surrendered its Australian Financial Services license in July 2022. This decision came amid a regulatory investigation, which uncovered several license violations.

ASIC’s investigation found that the company engaged an offshore call center, Toyga Media Ltd, to source clients who would be trading high-risk instruments like contracts for differences (CFDs) and margin forex contracts. The call center used pressure selling tactics to persuade clients to trade on Sirius’s platform. They even provided clients with financial advice, despite Sirius not being licensed to offer such services.

Additionally, ASIC stated that “Sirius Financial was also found to have engaged in unconscionable conduct and conduct that was likely to mislead or deceive.”

The Australian regulator also banned multiple executives of the company that operated Trade360 in the country.