CySEC supervised 837 entities and imposed €2.9 million in fines

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has shared the regulatory activities that it completed in 2022. The regulator said it supervised 837 regulated institutions by the end of 2022. It also imposed fines totaling €2.9 million during the year.

CySEC supervised 837 entities

The CySEC has been actively regulating financial institutions in Cyprus to guarantee they comply with the set regulatory framework. Besides supervising 837 regulated financial firms during the year, the regulatory body also noted that it would expand its regulatory oversight by regulating crowdfunding providers and personal pension products.

The CySEC’s yearly summary was released on March 15, 2023. The report noted that it was monitoring 837 companies, which represents a 3.9% yearly increase compared to the 806 regulated entities that were regulated by the end of 2021.

The CySEC also oversees around 100 new applicants wanting to be licensed in Cyprus. These applications are currently under review, and the number represents a 12% increase compared to 2019 when the COVID pandemic outbreak created havoc across the market.

The regulator also issued a report on the number of new applications that were approved in 2022, as well as the ones that were rejected or withdrawn.

“During 2022, a total of 86 applications or licenses were approved for all types of entities under the supervision of CySEC. CySEC rejected 6 applications for Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs) licenses, and a further 15 applications were withdrawn, including applications for CIF licenses and collective investments,” the regulator said.

In 2022, the CYSEC also regularly monitored the market to ensure that the regulated entities remained compliant. The Supervision Department for the CySEC inspected several CIF licenses, including 359 remote, thematic, and on-site reviews. The Department further noted that it implemented several requirements for reporting derivatives contracts and transactions.

The CySEC also conducted 119 remote document inspections and reviewed the requirements of Collective Investment Institutions. Additionally, the Department continued monitoring online marketing practices for CIFs under specialized systems, which support collecting and analyzing relevant information.

CySEC imposed €2.9 million in fines

Last year, the CySEC also imposed administrative fines of around €2.9 million, of which the majority came from penalties and settlements for CIF-regulated institutions. In the last two years, the regulatory body has also imposed administrative fines totaling more than €4.2 million, of which €3.6 million came from CIFs.

In the last ten years, the CySEC also imposed fines and settlements totaling to €34.2 million. The Chair of the CySEC, Dr. George Theocharides, summarized the annual activities of the regulator saying that the agency’s regulatory oversight role would expand t two new companies.

The new regulatory regime will see the CySEC now regulating European Crowdfunding Service Providers and the Providers of Pan-European Personal Pension products. These products will be offered under the European regulatory framework.