TradeATF operator Hoch Capital assessed €260K penalty by CySEC
Cyprus financial regulator CySEC has announced that it has reached a settlement with Hoch Capital Ltd, which will see Hoch pay a fine of €260,000 to the Treasury of Cyprus.
CySEC said that the settlement involved possible violations by Hoch Capital including the requirement for CIF authorisation sufficiency of record keeping, conflicts of interest, information to clients, the obligation to execute orders on terms most
favorable to the client, and the obligation to submit correct, complete and accurate information.
Hoch Capital operates the TradeATF retail FX and CFD broker brand, at website tradeatf.com. The company voluntarily renounced its CySEC license earlier this year, after TradeATF was barred from the UK by the FCA for using social media and webpages carrying fake endorsements from celebrities to entice UK consumers into the scams involving CFDs.
The full notice on the matter posted by CySEC follows:
11 December 2020
CYSEC Board Decision
Announcement date: 11.12.2020
Regarding: Hoch Capital Ltd
Legislation: Τhe Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law
Subject: Settlement €260.000
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission («CySEC») would like to note the following:
CySEC, under article 37(4) of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Law of 2009, has the power to reach a settlement for any violation or possible violation, act or omission for which there is reasonable ground to believe that it took place in violation of the provisions of CySEC’s supervised legislation.
A settlement has been reached with the CIF Hoch Capital Ltd («the Company»)- Under examination for voluntary renunciation of the authorisation, for possible violations of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017 – L.87(I)/2017 («the Law»). More specifically, the investigation for which the settlement was reached, involved assessing, for the period January 2018 until April 2020, the Company’s compliance with:
1. Article 5(1) of the Law, regarding the requirement for CIF authorisation.
2. Article 22(1) regarding the conditions for CIF authorisation. Explicitly, articles 9(2), 10(1)(a), 17(1), 17(2) and 17(6) of the Law, regarding the management body, the governance arrangements, the organisational requirements and the sufficiency of record keeping with which a CIF is required to comply.
3. Article 24(1) of the Law, regarding the conflicts of interest.
4. Articles 25(1) and 25(3) of the Law, regarding general principles and information to clients.
5. Article 28(1)(a) of the Law, regarding the CIF’s obligation to execute orders on terms most favorable to the client.
6. Article 93(2) of the Law, regarding the obligation to submit correct, complete and accurate information.
The settlement reached with the Company, regarding the possible violations, is for the amount of €260.000. The Company has paid the amount of €260.000.
It is noted that all amounts payable from settlement agreements are considered revenue (income) of the Treasury of the Republic and do not constitute income of CySEC.