Cyprus’ financial regulator has withdrawn the Cyprus Investment Firm licence of OBR Investments Ltd, the operator of CFD platform OBRinvest, after it decided to give up its authorization. The decision ends the firm’s status as a regulated CIF in Cyprus.

Another Broker Exits CySEC Oversight

Last month, Cyprus’ securities regulator withdrew the CIF license of HTFX (EU) Ltd after the broker opted to exit the local regime. The decision follows the company’s choice to give up its authorization rather than continue operating as a Cyprus Investment Firm. The watchdog said the step formalizes HTFX’s renunciation of its license and ends its status as a CySEC‑supervised CIF.

According to Thursday announcement, CySEC decided on February 9 to withdraw the CIF authorization of OBR Investments Ltd. The regulator stated that it withdrew the authorization because the company expressly renounced it. The notice lists not applicable for judicial review and ruling, which indicates that no court procedure or additional ruling applies to this decision.

CySEC Decision and Dates

OBR Investments Ltd operated as a Cyprus Investment Firm authorized by CySEC under license number 217/13 and used the trading name OBRinvest. The broker offered online trading in contracts for difference (CFDs) across several asset classes, including currencies, stocks, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies, to clients in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

Read more: CySEC Confirms License Withdrawal of VPR Safe Financial, Operator of CFD Broker Alvexo

Similarly, towards the end of last year, Squared Financial begun winding down its retail operations in Europe after “formally initiating a strategic and voluntary renunciation” of its CIF license. The broker described the step as part of a “strategic transition,” signaling a broader shift in its business focus.

As part of the process, the CFD broker has stopped accepting new clients or accounts under its Cypriot licence and has launched what it called a “structured and orderly wind-down” of existing client relationships.

The recent wave of CIFs exiting the market cannot be directly attributed to regulatory fee changes. However, CySEC has proposed raising the costs of operating regulated investment businesses by introducing higher application and annual fees for CIFs, foreign branches, and market operators. The draft plan also includes new charges for notifying material business changes and for algorithmic trading activities.

This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Retail FXRead More

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