2018 CIF Trading Volume Data Requested by CySEC
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) made an announcement on Tuesday that Cyprus all Investment Firms (CIFs) are now required to complete a new form that details their trade volumes from 2018. CIF’s are regulated by the CySEC and identified as Retail brokerages.
The form will require that CIF firms report fully all volumes made throughout 2018. These will be required to be divided into asset sub-classes and all trading undertaken is required to be reported. This is irrespective of whether it pertained to eligible counterparties, professional traders or retail traders.
It further requires that margin trading be reported and include the leveraged amount. For example, if I traded $200 with a 100:1 leverage, the amount reported would be $20,000.
Brokers will be required to differentiate between those trades that were carried out on behalf of a client and trades that were carried out on their own account. However, market makers will have to report all activity within the section for client trading and omit the other section to avoid double counting.
The CySEC, posted on its website a statement on Tuesday that said the documents must be submitted by the 12th of April. The CySEC also stated that additional reminders would not be forthcoming and that extensions would not be granted beyond the 12th. It added that failure to submit the information requested will see fines applied.
While the form may be new, it is not a first for the CySEC in its collection of CIF trading data. The past has seen the regulated gather data, including the collection of trading volumes as a way to strengthen its regulatory oversight.
Tuesday announcement failed to clarify why the collection of trading volumes is being requested. It is speculated that is could be a measure for the regulator to gauge the effect of product intervention measures introduced in August last year by the European Securities and Markets Authority and how they have impacted the industry, which is vital for the Cypriot economy.