CySEC Suspends Infina Investments' CIF License, under Suspicions of Lack of Compliance

by Steven Hatzakis
  • Forex Magnates investigates the recent suspensions of two Cypriot Investment Firms, announced by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the newest belonging to InfinaInvestments.com a now-defunct website.
CySEC Suspends Infina Investments' CIF License, under Suspicions of Lack of Compliance
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A busy day for the Cypriot regulator, as last Friday two back-to-back announcements were released advising of the suspension of CIF licenses belonging to two firms previously authorized with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ).

The first announcement was a repeated reminder of the previously announced suspension of Cedar Finance, a newly registered binary options broker under the name T.B.S.F Best Strategy Finance Ltd, after it failed to meet the 30-day grace period to comply administratively, as was covered last month by Forex Magnates, and the second belonging to Infina Investments (Cyprus) Limited, which we will review below.

Infina Websites No Longer Online, Cache Versions Reveal Background

The second and latest announcement from CySEC for Infina Investments, has suspended its licenses and also gave it 30 days to comply and regain its previous status.

Forex Magnates reviewed a cached version of the now defunct Infinainvestments.com website, and while the firm appears to have been more focused on a stock brokerage business, offering access to exchange traded securities as a CIF, it also listed currencies among other derivatives in its offering, as per the following cached version of its site, as of June 2013:

Financial Instruments

  • Transferable securities
  • Money market instruments
  • Units in collective investment undertakings
  • Options, futures, swaps, forward rate agreements and any other derivative contracts relating to securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, or other derivatives instruments, financial indices or financial measures which may be settled physically or in cash
Cached Logo of Infina.ru website

Cached Logo of Infina.ru website

According to the cached version of the website, under the "about us" section, the company's board of directors included Vyacheslav Fedorinov, listed as Chairman, and who had joined JSC Infina Investment Company, the name of the also now defunct Infina.ru website, based in Russia.

Mr. Fedorinov was described as having been appointed as a General Manager of Castlemor Investments Limited, the name for the website castlemor.com listed on the cached version of Infinainvestments.com.

CySEC Decision Taken On Suspicions of Compliance Violations

The CySEC announcement said that Infina Investments (Cyprus) Limited, with number 099/09, is suspended, pursuant to section 26(2) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law, because there are suspicions for an alleged violation of the sections as described below:

1. 28(1) of the Law as the Company may not in compliance with the requirements for authorisation of section 12 – Persons who effectively direct the business, 15 – Persons employed in CIF, 16 – Head office, 18 – Organisational requirements, 2. 67 (1) – Own funds, 3. 69(1),(2) – Exposures, and 4. 71 – Individual and consolidated basis.

The above decision was taken due to the fact that the previously mentioned alleged violations may possibly endanger the Company’s clients' interests and generally the smooth operation of the capital market, according to the CySEC announcement. The Company must, within one month, take actions in order to rectify the situation, as was announced by CySEC in the notice.

In addition, CySEC noted that pursuant to section 26(5) of the above mentioned Law, the firm cannot provide directly or via its website www.infinainvestments.com investment and ancillary services, while the suspension of the authorisation is in force. Forex Magnates was unable to reach Infina, as calls to the numbers listed on the cached versions of the above websites went unanswered.

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cysec

A busy day for the Cypriot regulator, as last Friday two back-to-back announcements were released advising of the suspension of CIF licenses belonging to two firms previously authorized with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ).

The first announcement was a repeated reminder of the previously announced suspension of Cedar Finance, a newly registered binary options broker under the name T.B.S.F Best Strategy Finance Ltd, after it failed to meet the 30-day grace period to comply administratively, as was covered last month by Forex Magnates, and the second belonging to Infina Investments (Cyprus) Limited, which we will review below.

Infina Websites No Longer Online, Cache Versions Reveal Background

The second and latest announcement from CySEC for Infina Investments, has suspended its licenses and also gave it 30 days to comply and regain its previous status.

Forex Magnates reviewed a cached version of the now defunct Infinainvestments.com website, and while the firm appears to have been more focused on a stock brokerage business, offering access to exchange traded securities as a CIF, it also listed currencies among other derivatives in its offering, as per the following cached version of its site, as of June 2013:

Financial Instruments

  • Transferable securities
  • Money market instruments
  • Units in collective investment undertakings
  • Options, futures, swaps, forward rate agreements and any other derivative contracts relating to securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, or other derivatives instruments, financial indices or financial measures which may be settled physically or in cash
Cached Logo of Infina.ru website

Cached Logo of Infina.ru website

According to the cached version of the website, under the "about us" section, the company's board of directors included Vyacheslav Fedorinov, listed as Chairman, and who had joined JSC Infina Investment Company, the name of the also now defunct Infina.ru website, based in Russia.

Mr. Fedorinov was described as having been appointed as a General Manager of Castlemor Investments Limited, the name for the website castlemor.com listed on the cached version of Infinainvestments.com.

CySEC Decision Taken On Suspicions of Compliance Violations

The CySEC announcement said that Infina Investments (Cyprus) Limited, with number 099/09, is suspended, pursuant to section 26(2) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law, because there are suspicions for an alleged violation of the sections as described below:

1. 28(1) of the Law as the Company may not in compliance with the requirements for authorisation of section 12 – Persons who effectively direct the business, 15 – Persons employed in CIF, 16 – Head office, 18 – Organisational requirements, 2. 67 (1) – Own funds, 3. 69(1),(2) – Exposures, and 4. 71 – Individual and consolidated basis.

The above decision was taken due to the fact that the previously mentioned alleged violations may possibly endanger the Company’s clients' interests and generally the smooth operation of the capital market, according to the CySEC announcement. The Company must, within one month, take actions in order to rectify the situation, as was announced by CySEC in the notice.

In addition, CySEC noted that pursuant to section 26(5) of the above mentioned Law, the firm cannot provide directly or via its website www.infinainvestments.com investment and ancillary services, while the suspension of the authorisation is in force. Forex Magnates was unable to reach Infina, as calls to the numbers listed on the cached versions of the above websites went unanswered.

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