On 30 September 2019, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission issued a response to ESMA’s opinion on CySEC’s proposed national measures restricting how contract for differences (CFDs) are sold to retail consumers.

In its response, CySEC states that it has tailored the national product intervention measures (NPIMs) in a way that enables incorporation of the content of the NPIMs taken by other National Competent Authorities as concerns firms which fall under CySEC’s supervision but distribute or sell such CFDs in the territory of another Member State.

Following a limited number of National Competent Authorities across the European Union adopting measures which substantially differ from the ESMA measures, CySEC has opted for a territorial approach to the Cyprus NPIMs for the provision of services on a cross-border basis to residents of other Member States. The purpose of this is to avoid the interpretation and legal risks that might arise from the divergence of rules between European National Competent Authorities.

CySEC firmly believes its approach is justified and proportionate and will provide to the residents of the specific Member States the same level of protection afforded to them by the measures introduced by the NCA of their respective Member State.

We previously provided an update on CySEC’s proposed measures here.

CySEC’s response can be found here.