Key Insight
- CySEC withdraws banned broker Neo Premium Investment’s Investor Compensation Fund membership
- Follows CySEC’s move last week to strip Neo Premium of its financial investment firm license
- Loss of coverage does not affect eligibility of existing clients to receive compensation from fund
NICOSIA (MarketsXplora) – Cyprus’ securities commission said on Tuesday it has revoked the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) membership of forex and contracts-for-differences broker Neo Premium Investments (NPI) Ltd.
The move follows a decision by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) last week to strip Neo Premium’s financial investment firm license, the regulator said in a statement.
Revocation of ICF status does not obstruct existing clients covered prior to the ban from receiving due compensation, CySEC noted.
The Investor Compensation Fund is a rescue fund for clients of failed Cypriot investment firms and pays out up to 20,000 euros per eligible claimant. Membership is mandatory for regulated brokers.
NPI, formerly operating as Concorde Investments (Cyprus) Ltd and Skopalino Finance Ltd, saw its CIF license pulled amid an ongoing CySEC probe into possible violations that merited use of the regulator’s emergency powers.
The precise details and reasons for NPI’s ban have not been disclosed. The broker offered trading in forex, crypto assets, stocks, commodities and indices to retail investors.
CySEC has ramped up enforcement actions recently against the island’s CFD and forex brokerages, including record fines and other sanctions.