The ruling relates to an €80,000 fine imposed by CySec on Aspis Holdings in September 2009, for what the regulator said was a failure to comply with takeover rules during the company’s acquisition of shares in ADHP Holdings.
CySec last week said that the Supreme Court “annulled” the fine in August, “on the basis that the appointment of the Members of the Commission, at the time of the contested decision, was contrary to the provisions of the Law of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.”
As a result, CySec said it had decided to revoke “a number of decisions taken by its council” prior to the decision in the case.
CySec did not reveal further details of what was ruled illegal, but the Supreme Court judgment is understood to relate to the appointment of Georgios Charalambous as CySec chairman in 2006. Charalambous was replaced in the role last month by Demetra Kalogerou Antoniadou.
If all decisions made during Charalambous’ tenure as chairman were open to appeal, the workload for the regulator could be considerable. One adviser based on the island, who asked not to be named, last week said he was considering appealing a fine he received earlier this year.
In its statement, CySec said: “The review of all cases is impossible since the volume of work required is enormous. The Commission will reexamine cases taking into account their severity, the related violations and the capacity to complete them.”
Another IFA said that the ruling was a blow to the regulator and could leave it under-resourced in relation to its role in enforcing Mifid regulations. Mifid compliance exams which were due to take place in December have been cancelled, he noted.
CySec was unavailable for further comment at the time of writing.
