The Board of Directors of the Cyprus Capital Market Commission (CCM) wishes to inform the public that it has decided to impose a total administrative fine of 360,000 euros on the Cyprus investment company (CIF) MCA Intelifunds Ltd.
MCA Intelifunds Ltd operates under the brand name FXORO.
The fine stems from his company’s violations of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Act of 2017, as amended (“the Act”). These were identified during an inspection at the company in September 2022.
The total fine includes:
- A fine of €80,000 for a breach of Article 22(1) of the Law, as the Company failed at any time to comply with the authorization condition of Article 17(2) of the Law, as further defined in Articles 22(1) and 22(2)(a) of Under the mandate of Regulation (EU) 2017/565, as the Company has not established adequate policies and procedures sufficient to ensure its compliance with its obligations under the Law.
- €150,000 fine for breach of Article 25(1) of the Law, as the Company did not act in an honest, fair and professional manner when providing investment services to clients, in accordance with the best interests of its clients.
- Fined €25,000 for breach of Article 25(2)(a)(iii) of the Law, as the Company, which offers financial instruments (CFDs) for sale to clients, failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that the financial instruments are distributed to defined target market.
- A fine of 25,000 euros for a violation of Article 25 paragraph 2 point b) of the Law, as the Company, which provides financial instruments (CFDs) for sale to clients, did not assess the compatibility of the financial instruments it offered or recommended to , with the needs of clients to whom it provided investment services, also taking into account the identified target market of end clients and did not ensure that these financial instruments are offered or recommended only when it is in the best interest of the client.
- €60,000 fine for breach of Article 26(3)(a) of the Law, as further defined in Article 56(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565, as the Company did not require customers or potential customers to provide all the necessary information about that person’s knowledge and experience in the investment field, in relation to the specific type of product offered, so that he can assess whether the intended product is suitable for the client.
- A fine of €20,000 for a breach of Article 26(3)(b) of the Law, as the Company did not properly warn the customer or potential customer, based on the information received pursuant to Article 26(3)(a), that the product or service was not suitable for him/her.