Fined, settled or withdrawn: how to read a broker’s record with CySEC

Forty of the 60 brokers we cover hold a licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) for at least one of their companies.12 CySEC publishes the decisions of its board online, and anyone can search them by company name.1

Those decisions are among the most useful records a trader can read, but they are easy to misread. A settlement is not a fine. A fine can be challenged in court. A withdrawn licence can be a sanction or the firm’s own choice. Here is what each kind of decision means, and how we weigh it.

Fines

A fine is a decision that the firm broke the rules. In July 2024, for example, CySEC’s board “decided to impose an administrative fine of €200.000” on IC Markets (EU) Ltd for non-compliance with the restrictions on selling CFDs to retail clients, after it took part in activities that got round the margin those rules require.2

A firm can ask a court to review a fine. CySEC’s notice has a field for the judicial review and one for the ruling, linked once they exist.2 Until the court decides, the fine may yet stand, change or fall.

Settlements

CySEC can also settle. Article 37(4) of the CySEC Law of 2009 gives it the power to reach a settlement for “any violation or possible violation” where there are reasonable grounds to believe it took place.3

The difference shows in the wording. When CySEC settled with First Prudential Markets Ltd, FP Markets’ Cyprus company, in January 2026, the notice described a “possible violation” of the CFD restrictions between March 2022 and August 2025. The company paid €100,000, and the judicial review field reads “N/A”.3 CySEC adds that settlement money goes to the Treasury of the Republic, not to CySEC.3

So a settlement is not a finding that the firm broke the rules, and there is no decision for a court to review. The firm agrees to pay instead of contesting the case.

Measures on owners and licences

Not every decision is about money:

• Owners. In August 2025 CySEC found that the influence of the ultimate owner of Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd was prejudicial to the firm’s sound and prudent management. It suspended the voting rights of his shares, 95% of the capital, and barred him from management duties.4
• Suspensions. In August 2021 CySEC partially suspended the licence of Indication Investments Ltd, Libertex’s Cyprus company, over suspected breaches that included the rules on marketing CFDs.5 It lifted the suspension three weeks later, once it was satisfied that the company had complied.6

Withdrawals

A licence withdrawal sounds like the harshest outcome, but it is not always a sanction. In May 2024 CySEC withdrew the licence of Forextime Ltd, FXTM’s Cyprus company, because the company had expressly renounced it.7 A firm handing back its licence tells you something about its plans, not about misconduct. Read the reason in the decision.

What the totals show

Cyprus Business Review has added up CySEC’s record. From January 2016 to September 2024, it counted €12,853,260 in fines on Cyprus investment firms, across 113 decisions against 85 companies. It also found that CySEC’s consolidated register of sanctions had no entry after September 2024, so recent decisions are best found on the board decisions page.10

Settlements now bring in most of the money. Between 1 January and 11 August 2026, seven settlements made up €450,000 of the €616,750 in monetary decisions CySEC announced, or 73%. The other 21 decisions were fines averaging under €8,000, many of them against small companies listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange for filing obligations rather than against investment firms.11

What we record, and how we weigh it

For the 60 brokers we cover, we record 15 CySEC decisions about their companies: 7 fines, 5 settlements and 3 measures on owners or licences.12 Each is listed on the broker’s profile with CySEC’s own notice as the source.

In our trust score, concluded and settled enforcement actions count, deducting points by severity and age. A fine under appeal is shown on the profile but does not change the score until the court decides, and a decision that is overturned does not count. Three of the seven fines are under appeal. Our methodology sets out the rules, and Warnings, allegations and rulings are not the same explains how we treat other kinds of record.

How to check a firm yourself

1. Find the company’s legal name. CySEC’s decisions name the company, not the brand. Our profiles list each brand’s companies, and your client agreement names the one you contract with.
2. Search for its former names too. Companies change names. LiteFinance’s Cyprus company, for example, was once Mayzus Investment Company Ltd.9
3. Search the board decisions page for each name, and read the subject line of each decision: a fine, a settlement or another measure.1
4. Check the judicial review field on any fine to see whether it was challenged, and how the court ruled.
5. Confirm the licence is still active on CySEC’s list of Cyprus investment firms.8