The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) today issued a circular to investment firms – a category including retail FX and CFD brokers, among others.

A new Form issued for the collection of data on the CIFs’ cross border activity. The Form must be completed and submitted to CySEC, only by CIFs that reach the materiality threshold of 50 retail clients (including retail clients treated as professionals), in any country of the European Economic Area (EEA). The threshold applies to clients with whom the CIF has an ongoing relationship, or has had at least one transaction, over the reporting period (01/01/2020 – 31/12/2020).

The Cypriot regulator explains that it will use this information for the purposes of conducting statistical analyses, risk management and other purposes.

The investment firms will be required to submit:

• General information
• Information about the marketing strategy of the firm in the Host Member State
• Details of passporting activities
• Details of passporting of ancillary activities
• Other information – complaints and redress procedures.

The information to be provided concerns solely the services and activities provided to retail clients (including retail clients treated as professionals).The information to be entered concerns only services and activities provided on a “freedom to provide services” basis and should not include services and activities provided on a “freedom of establishment” basis.

The Form must be submitted via email, by sending an email to the address riskstatistics.cifs@cysec.gov.cy by 15:00 hrs, Friday, July 16, 2021, at the latest.

Failure to promptly and duly comply, with the above, will bear the administrative penalties of section 37(5) of the CySEC Law.