Hoch Capital, Rodeler Renounce Cyprus’ CIF License

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) announced on Wednesday that two regulated companies – Hoch Capital Ltd and Rodeler Ltd – had renounced their Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) authorization license.

Though the announcement was made today, the decision was finalized by the regulator on July 6.

In respective notices, the Cypriot regulator stated that each of the firms “had notified CySEC of its decision to expressly renounce its Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) authorization and, at its meeting on 6th July 2020, CySEC has approved, pursuant to Article 4(4) of Directive DI87-05 for The Withdrawal and Suspension of Authorisation (‘the Directive’), the Company’s proposed timeframe of [the] implementation of actions as provided in article 4(3) of the Directive.”

Flagged by the regulator

Notably, both the companies were among the seven financial services provider whose CIF licenses were suspended by the CySEC for a month in early June under the request of its UK counterpart. The Financial Conduct Authority alleged that the companies were using fake celebrity endorsements for promoting their products on social media.

Hoch Capital was offering trading services in the UK under the brands iTrader and tradeATF while Rodeler was operating as 24option. Other involved companies were Magnum FX and F1 Markets.

Though the regulatory suspensions of Magnum FX and F1 Markets were recalled within three weeks, the other two did not receive their CIF licenses back, instead, they renounced the licenses.

Earlier in April, the Italian regulator also flagged a broker-dealer platform operated by Hoch.

Notably, both Hoch Capital and Rodeler were among the key customers of collapsed German fintech Wirecard.

Meanwhile, the CySEC remained vigilant towards any violations of laws by the companies under its purview. It recently asked the regulated companies to follow the FATF-recommended AML/CFT guidelines for increasing financial crimes as the COVID-19 outbreak continues.