cysec
ESMA’s Common Supervisory Action Follows Enforcement: Should CFD Brokers Be Worried?
- A review of 154 CySEC-regulated forex and CFD firms found conflict-of-interest policies badly outdated—one unchanged for a decade—missing affiliates, finfluencers, and digital platform risks.
- ESMA's 2026 CSA on conflicts of interest will likely trigger enforcement. CySEC firms score just 0.33 out of 3 (the higher the score, the better) on digital platform conflicts, exposing governance failures that inspectors will spot immediately.
Thursday, 09/04/2026 | 10:39 GMT by
Aydin Bonabi
CySEC Delays Russia-Linked Otkritie Broker Director Ban for a Fourth Year Running
- The Cypriot regulator extends the grace period on Igor Gutinskiy's management prohibition by another 12 months.
- The two-year ban, first announced in April 2023 over concerns about Russian bank influence, has yet to take effect after repeated postponements.
Tuesday, 07/04/2026 | 12:07 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
CySEC Sets Deadline for CFD Brokers and Crypto Firms to Submit Last Year’s Data
- Data should be in euros; instructions are included; no additional information requested.
- The regulator will carry out on-site inspections and desk-based reviews of CFD brokers and other investment firms.
Friday, 03/04/2026 | 13:14 GMT by
Tareq Sikder
Cyprus Built Its Name on CFDs. Now a Crypto Exchange Is One of Its Biggest Hirers.
- Kraken's aggressive local hiring push signals that crypto exchanges are reshaping the talent market Cyprus built around retail trading.
- New quarterly data from marketing intelligence firm FYI shows crypto platforms now lead all hiring categories across the online trading industry.
Friday, 03/04/2026 | 08:45 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
CySEC: "Smartphones Have Made Risk-Taking Easier" - And the EU Needs to Act
- CySEC Vice Chairman Panikkos Vakkou has warned that mobile platforms are pushing young investors toward speculative products.
- Writing at the Nicosia 2026 Eurofi seminar, he also endorsed tokenization and DLT as tools to unlock Europe's €10 trillion in idle deposits.
Tuesday, 31/03/2026 | 07:25 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
CySEC Regulated Coinbase Expands OTC Derivatives Offering Across the EEA
- Contracts include crypto and equity-index futures combining Magnificent Seven stocks with crypto ETFs.
- The exchange obtained its MiFID II licence this year through the acquisition of BUX Cyprus.
Monday, 09/03/2026 | 13:28 GMT by
Tareq Sikder
Suppress a Whistleblower in Cyprus? That's Now Up to Three Years in Jail
- New legislation gives teeth to a decade-old EU requirement: brokers and their staff now face criminal charges for suppressing insider trading reports.
- The law puts Cyprus among the stricter EU jurisdictions on whistleblower protection, coming as CySEC ramps up its scrutiny of the island's large broker community.
Monday, 09/03/2026 | 06:20 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
CySEC Plans Raids on CFD Broker Offices in EU-Wide Conflict of Interest Sweep
- The regulator will conduct on-site visits at CIFs, examining how brokers handle conflicts between their own profits and clients' interests.
- Staff pay structures, digital platform design, and inducement practices are all under scrutiny.
Thursday, 05/03/2026 | 12:34 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
Second Broker Renounces Cyprus Investment Firm License in Under a Month
- OBR Investments has renounced the authorization, ending its regulated status in the region.
- It follows a similar move by HTFX (EU), which walked away from its CySEC CIF licence last month.
Thursday, 19/02/2026 | 16:58 GMT by
Jared Kirui
Cyprus Regulator Lifts Two-Year Ban on Broker's Director as “New Facts Emerge”
- Earlier restrictions against Veles International suspended the sole shareholder's voting rights and barred him from management duties.
- CySEC had raised concerns that Dmitry Bugayenko’s influence was damaging to Veles’ effective governance.
Monday, 16/02/2026 | 15:03 GMT by
Jared Kirui
Cyprus Pushes Financial Firms to Reveal How They Are Structured to EU
- The new policy shifts Cypriot firms from publishing disclosures solely on their own websites.
- These disclosures must describe each group’s legal structure, governance framework, and organizational setup.
Wednesday, 04/02/2026 | 15:29 GMT by
Jared Kirui
Cyprus Regulator's New Survey Wants to Show How Finance Fuels the Island’s Economy
- The study seeks data on firms’ turnover and also on their local spending on staff, services, and technology.
- Firms must report only their Cyprus-based operations, submitting all data in euros and excluding value-added tax.
Wednesday, 28/01/2026 | 15:42 GMT by
Jared Kirui
CFD Broker HTFX Relinquishes CySEC License, Regulator Confirms
- Last week, the regulator proposed to raise the cost of doing investment business on the island.
- HTFX can no longer provide investment services or conduct investment activities in or from Cyprus.
Thursday, 22/01/2026 | 14:24 GMT by
Jared Kirui
“New EU Rules May Attract More Serious Asset Managers to Cyprus,” Says CySEC Chair
- Dr. George Theocharides said Cyprus’s financial market will face stricter supervision in 2026 amid new EU laws.
- By November 2025, Cyprus recorded 253 licensed CIFs, with about 30 more firms at various stages of the licensing process.
Tuesday, 13/01/2026 | 14:21 GMT by
Jared Kirui
Cyprus Regulator Proposes Higher CIF Licensing Costs, Plans to Drop Crypto Fee Under MiCA
- The new proposal introduces additional charges for material change notifications and algorithmic trading activity.
- Firms must notify CySEC whenever they make major changes to their business, such as shifting from professional to retail clients.
Monday, 12/01/2026 | 13:41 GMT by
Jared Kirui
CySEC Confirms February Deadline for Crypto Firms Seeking MiCA Approval
- Crypto firms can operate during the transitional period until applications are approved or rejected.
- Cross-border crypto services must follow host country laws and ESMA’s grandfathering guidance.
Tuesday, 23/12/2025 | 11:53 GMT by
Tareq Sikder
Cyprus Brokers Captures 1 in 3 EU Cross-Border Traders (While Complaints Soar 46%)
- CySEC-regulated firms serve 3.6 million of the 10.5 million retail clients trading across EU borders, dominating a market that grew 32% in 2024.
- ESMA data show, however, that complaints jumped to nearly 11,000, with four countries accounting for 86% of cross-border activity.
Tuesday, 23/12/2025 | 11:34 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
XTB Bypasses Poland's MiCA Stalemate, Wins Cyprus Spot Crypto License
- The Polish fintech secured regulatory approval in Cyprus for spot crypto trading after Poland's president refused to sign the domestic MiCA legislation.
- The publicly listed broker plans to launch spot crypto services for local clients in Cyprus in 2026.
Friday, 19/12/2025 | 19:30 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
CySEC Chair: “Honestly, No Matter What We Do, Scammers Will Find New Ways to Deceive Investors”
- Speaking to Finance Magnates ahead of 2026, Dr. George Theocharides says Europe’s AI Act is only the start, as CySEC monitors AI use within CIFs, proceeds cautiously with MiCA, and flags growing stability risks in stablecoins.
- Scams will persist, and while prop trading remains unregulated for now, any future rules are likely to follow a gradual “copy-trading style process.”
Thursday, 18/12/2025 | 07:55 GMT by
CySEC Fines Wonderinterest €100K, Operator of CFD Brokers Zetano and Investago
- The largest part of the fine, €50K, was imposed over “inadequate policies and unspecified target markets.”
- The regulator recently added 21 unauthorized websites, some of which mimic brokers.
Wednesday, 17/12/2025 | 16:53 GMT by
Tareq Sikder
CFD Broker Squared Financial Gives Up Its Cyprus Licence
- The broker’s website highlights that the move is “part of a broader internal restructuring.”
- It is no longer accepting clients under the Cyprus licence and is winding down “existing client relationships.”
Wednesday, 17/12/2025 | 07:21 GMT by
Arnab Shome
CySEC Warns Against 21 Fraudulent Websites, Including Clones of AvaTrade and OneRoyal
- CySEC adds potentially fraudulent domains to its growing blacklist of unauthorized platforms.
- The warning covers entities offering forex trading, CFD services, and potential clones.
Tuesday, 18/11/2025 | 07:54 GMT by
Damian Chmiel
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