Cyprus financial watchdog (the CySEC) has announced the implementation of its TPR (temporary permissions regime). The policy prevents UK-based FinTech firms from running their operations in Cyprus unless they are registered and licensed by the CySEC before December 31.
The TPR Policy
The TPR policy applies to firms that want to have a physical office in Cyprus or any other European country ready to apply for a new regulatory license. As the name implies, the TPR policy only allows these firms to operate till the appropriate agency licenses them.
After the successful approval of their application, these firms have another six months to set up and provide services for their clients legitimately. The financial regulator claims taking this step will enable these UK-based firms to build a solid foundation for operating in Cyprus.
Why The TPR?
When UK authorities confirmed their exit from the European Union last year, many European countries where UK companies operate had to devise a policy that would allow these UK-owned firms to keep running in their country.
However, the TPR limited the operations of these UK-based companies to only the provision of services for their Cyprus-based partners or high net-worth clients. The CySEC disclosed that 96 companies applied for a TPR following Brexit, but eight of them were not approved because they fell short of the commission’s requirements.
The regulator remarked that “the CySEC reviews applications to license businesses based outside Cyprus in the order they are received. However, the thoroughness in evaluating these applications makes it challenging to evaluate each application quickly. Consequently, the CySEC developed the TPR policy to enable selected companies to keep operating till the CySEC can grant them a full license.” As the December 31 deadline is approaching, the CySEC has confirmed that the names of all TPR-approved businesses will be published on its website by January 1 next year.
Italy’s Financial Market Regulator Blocklists Seven Businesses
Italy’s financial market regulator (CONSOB) isn’t stopping the operations of illegal businesses anytime soon. The agency recently announced that it had blocklisted seven companies who have violated the financial fraud laws of the country. Six of them were identified as operating illegally in the country, while the last one doesn’t have any prospectus for the financial products it was offering. A list of the affected companies can be found on CONSOB’s website.
CONSOB has been fully involved in blocklisting crypto- and forex-related firms operating illegally after it was given such authority two years ago. Since that time, it has blocked 566 firms, including those mentioned above. CONSOB further stated that it had started removing the websites of these companies from all Italian ISPs.
However, the regulator noted that the ISP blocklisting might not happen for the next few days. While several nations have been empowered to blocklist any crypto and forex-related firms operating without the appropriate license, only CONSOB is authorized to block any affected firm’s website from all Italy-based ISPs. CONSOB constantly educate the citizens on the importance of thorough research before making any investment decision.
