The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has fined IC Markets (EU) Ltd €50,000 for breaches of investment services regulations, the regulator announced on Wednesday.
The fine was imposed following a meeting on July 1, 2024, where CySEC’s board found the broker violated multiple provisions of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017.
Specifically, CySEC fined IC Markets €30,000 for not taking “all the necessary steps” to ensure the best execution results for its clients, considering both price and trade size. The regulator also imposed a €10,000 fine for failing to set up “effective arrangements” to meet these requirements and another €10,000 penalty for not providing clear information on costs and charges to clients.
For its part, IC Markets (EU) Ltd contested CySEC’s decision, calling the fines “unjustified” and asserting that they do not reflect the company’s operational standards.
“We firmly disagree with CySEC’s conclusions, particularly the assertion that we did not take sufficient steps to achieve the best possible execution results for our clients,” IC Markets said in a statement to FinanceFeeds, defending its practices of using “robust internal systems and comprehensive market analysis” to secure the best prices for clients.
IC Markets added that its cost and charge disclosures are clear and detailed, and criticized the regulator’s decision as disconnected from “the actual trading landscape” and the preferences of professional traders.
The company vowed to appeal the ruling in a legal forum, stating its commitment to transparency, top-tier execution, and client protection remains “unchallenged.”
“This is a testament to the fact that as a broker, we are considered one of the best execution venues for traders. Regardless of CySEC’s conclusions, traders themselves make their decisions, and the market has consistently chosen IC Markets. The trading conditions we provide speak for themselves—whatever CySEC’s views may be, traders know the reality, and we remain the best,” the statement reads.
The news comes less than two months after IC Markets (EU) announced plans to appeal a €200,000 fine from the CySEC in July. The fine was for allegedly not complying with EU financial regulations about selling CFDs to retail clients.
IC Markets claimed that CySEC ignored “irrefutable audited evidence” and based the decision on information from a former employee fired for misconduct.
The broker added this ex-employee bullied and threatened the company with regulatory involvement, claiming personal connections within CySEC. IC Markets argued that CySEC made assumptions without concrete evidence, leading to a decision based on speculation rather than facts, raising concerns about the fairness and integrity of the regulatory process.
The core allegations are centered around the broker offering a leverage ratio of up to 1:1000, through an offshore entity in the same company group, to avoid the legal limit of 1:30. CySEC also pointed out that IC Markets committed a similar violation in 2021, showing repeated non-compliance despite promising to take corrective actions.
