The decision on the fine was made over noncompliance issues with the local Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law, as CySEC determined that the company failed to comply at all times with all the required operating conditions.

The €100,000 sum is made up of four smaller fines corresponding to specific failures by Colmex Pro to keep up regulations. These include insufficient policies and procedures with respect to the evaluation process for customer compatibility, knowledge and experience and failure to take reasonable steps to avoid undue additional operational risk. Additionally, the information included in its website, provided through online customer service or from advertising, was evaluated and found to be not fair, unclear or misleading.

The Cypriot watchdog has been very tough recently on the many trading and investment firms under its jurisdiction. In November we reported that it has imposed a fine of €225,000 on XFR Financial Ltd, owner of forex brokers XForex and XTrade, for a series of non-compliance issues in connection with the provision of trading services.