The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has announced the imposition of a total administrative fine of €100,000 on the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF), Wonderinterest Trading Ltd (board decision).
According to a press release, "The Board of CySEC reached the above decision after identifying a series of violations of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017, committed during the period 2022-2024 by Wonderinterest Trading Ltd."
In more detail, CySEC imposed the following fines on Wonderinterest Trading Ltd:
€50,000 for violation of section 22(1), as the Company did not comply at all times with the authorisation conditions. Particularly, section 17(2) and Section 17(3)(c) of the relevant Law, as the Company did not establish adequate policies and procedures and did not specify an identified target-market of end clients for each financial instrument. Moreover, it did not ensure that all relevant risks to such identified target-market were assessed.
€30.000 for violation of section 25(1), as the Company did not act honestly, fairly and professionally when providing investment services to clients, in accordance with their best interest.
€20.000 for violation of section 25(3)(a), as the Company did not ensure that all information, including marketing communications, provided to clients or potential clients, was fair, clear and not misleading.
The press release also noted that, "For the imposition of the administrative fine, CySEC took into account, among other things, the importance attached to the implementation of appropriate policies and procedures by a CIF within the framework of its operations, as well as the need to ensure the protection of the investing public and the clients of CIFs. Such protection is achieved when the information provided by CIFs enables clients to make informed decisions."
"CySEC also took into account the fact that, during the relevant period, the Company did not ensure the protection of its clients’ interests, as well as the need for CIFs to ensure that financial instruments are distributed to the identified target-market of end clients in accordance with the needs of that target-market and following an assessment of the risks associated with them, which operates in their best interest," the press release concluded.
