CySEC slaps Maxigrid shareholder with €20K fine, 10-year ban
The Cypriot watchdog has hit the operators of Maxigrid Limited with regulatory bans and fiscal penalties for violations of the local Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law.
In relation to the fine, CySEC stated that Maxigrid, which operates the brands Dualix & AGM Markets, breached its conduct of business obligations when providing investment services to clients. It has also failed to submit financial accounts and other information required by CySEC in a complete and accurate manner.
The watchdog blamed the company’s shareholder and former non-executive president of board, Roy Almagor, and executive directors Jekaterina Pedosa and Katerina Papanicolaou over their omission and negligence during their time in office.
Almagor was ordered to pay €20,000 in fines and was also banned from acting in a management capacity relating to the financial sector for five years.
CySEC also penalised executive directors Jekaterina and Katerina with a collective fine of €20.000 and were also banned from any functions within the local industry for five and two years, respectively.
Furthermore, a panel of non-executive directors including Nikolai Monogarov, Alexis Zampas, Pavlos Iosifides and Ioannis Chasikos were each barred from any administrative roles.
This decision is based on the findings of CySEC’s investigation into the company’s activities and has taken into account among other factors the seriousness attributed to such infringements. CySEC added that these executives acted “in violation of section 10(1)(a) of the Law, because it did not define and oversee and it did not take the responsibility regarding the implementation of the arrangements that ensure the effective and prudent management of the Company, in a way that promoted the integrity of the market and the interest of its clients. Specifically, at the material time (around 4th September 2020 – October 2021), the principle of governance arrangements, which is set out in section 10(1)(b)(ii) of the Law, was not applied.”
Earlier this month, the CySEC announced the initiation of the process of compensating the clients of the initiation of the process of compensating the clients of Maxigrid, which saw its license lapsed in February.
The process involves the CySEC inviting clients to the claims portal for them to enter the necessary details and state their claims. The Cypriot watchdog has wholly withdrawn the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) of Maxigrid, and the company was forced out of regulated business.
