Friday, November 22, 2024

CySEC recalled Libertex’s partial suspension on promises to establish proper compliance

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Libertex is a broker operated by Indication Investments Ltd, regulated by the Cypriot CySEC with license number 164/12. On July 16, 2021, we reported that Libertex was promoted via an illegal boiler room on Telegram. This boiler room was in turn promoted via fake articles such as Wirtschaftanzeiger. Please read the report here. CySEC partially suspended Libertex‘s license on 3 August 2021 but recalled this suspension on August 23, 2021. The regulator was satisfied with the broker’s commitments to make its marketing strategy compliant and continuously monitor compliance procedures. Thus, Libertex wants us to remove the old report!

We do not know whether our report on Libertex contributed to the CySEC decision of partial suspension and the subsequent commitment to improving its marketing performance. The truth, however, is that there has been a need to “develop new and adequate marketing policy” in order to comply with the regulatory regime:

The Company has informed that it has developed new and adequate/satisfactory marketing policy and procedures, which include a stricter approval process for any advertising material. The monitoring of this policy was entrusted to the Expert.

CySEC decision dated 23 August 2021 (link)

Specifically, the following measures are to be implemented by Libertex according to the CySEC decision:

  1. The Company has informed that it has removed any reference in relation to a specific discount on commissions from its website, in languages other than English (including Dutch and Spanish).
  2. The Company has informed that all its posts, which relate to the Company’s campaign “give away” (‘the Campaign’), have been removed from its website, as well as social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube).
  3. The Company has informed that it has developed a new and adequate/satisfactory marketing policy and procedures, which include a stricter approval process for any advertising material. 
  4. The Company has informed that it instructed the Expert to monitor the implementation of the compliance program, on a continuous basis, upon the resumption of its activities. It also instructed the Expert to prepare an ad-hoc report in relation to its compliance with the above-mentioned articles.

Libertex has contacted FinTelegram and its partners and demanded that the report about the promotion by the illegal boiler room be deleted. The claim that Libertex would use non-compliant marketing actions would not be correct. Well, apparently, CySEC saw it differently and forced Libertex to make changes in public commitments and marketing. We are happy to hear that.