Portuguese securities market regulator renders decisions in 17 administrative infraction cases in Q3 2018

The Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) has earlier today posted its operating results for the third quarter of 2018.

During the three months to end-September 2018, the CMVM rendered decisions in 17 administrative infraction proceedings. Out of these, 7 concerned breach of financial intermediation duties, 5 related to the activity of collective investment entities, 4 related to breach of market information duties and 1 was for market trading duties. During the first nine months of the year, 38 administrative infraction proceedings were decided.

Decisions rendered between July and September comprise 15 very serious administrative infractions. A total of EUR 725,000 in fines was imposed and ten warning notices were issued. The proceeds of the fines imposed by the CMVM revert to the Investor Compensation Scheme as per the legislation in force.

During the third quarter, one case concerning market trading was decided in court, and four cases, as at end quarter, are court-pending.

In its annual report for 2017, the Portuguese regulator said 14 fines were imposed, resulting in a contribution of EUR 357,500 to reinforce the Investor Compensation Scheme, and 20 investigations were concluded, resulting in 4 reports to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The CMVM was also heavily involved in the international assessment of the FATF on combating money laundering.

The regulator said it continued to devote attention to supervision of the sale of complex financial products and approval of advertising material, with particular focus on platforms where derivatives are traded on an over-the-counter (OTC) basis with underlying cryptocurrencies in 2017.

Let’s recall that the CMVM has recently revealed the preliminary findings from a survey conducted between June 18 and August 6, 2018. The findings show investors in crypto-assets (ICOs / Bitcoins) believe they have better financial knowledge than they actually have.

Usually, investors in ICOs / Bitcoins are younger, hold more shares and are more risk-taking. In particular, 47% of crypto investors are between 25 and 39 years old, and 62% admit to be risk-taking.

In terms of confidence, there is a somewhat worrying finding. More than half (63%) of investors in ICO / Bitcoins believe that they know enough about investments so that they do not need to consult a financial industry professional. This compares to 43% of the total sample of surveyed investors who believe so.