CySEC fines the Directors of Maxigrid Ltd in 2022Sanctions do not only apply to companies but they can also be applied to directors. Today in this article, we want to inform you about the sanctions taken by CySEC in 2022 against the directors of Maxigrid Ltd. What was the impact of these sanctions? Find out now!
Information required by Maxigrid Ltd
Agm Markets Ltd (former name of Maxigrid Ltd) was established in 2011 in Cyprus. Located at 214 Arch. Makariou III, Ideal Building, Office 301, Ayia Zoni, 3030, Limassol, Cyprus, it changes its name in 2019 to Maxigrid Ltd.
The company was an investment company and had several domain names, which you may know such as:
Source: https://www.cysec.gov.cy/en-GB/entities/investment-firms/cypriot/37714/
In terms of reviews, we found negative reviews on Trustpilot such as:
English translation: “Beware today 29/08/2021 let’s take APPLE stock which closed last night at 152.51 USD on the Dualix platform it closed at 151.69 USD you never trade with the right price”
Source: https://fr.trustpilot.com/review/dualix.maxigrid.com
We also found negative reviews on Forbino:
English translation: “Big fat scam!!!! In just 2 months of trading with the famous RICHARD I also LOST everything! To be avoided.”
English translation: “Scam! I was scammed; You sign up on a bitcoin site and someone contacts you the next day to sign you up on dualix. A manager who says he is professional puts you in confidence. He asks for a transaction of 250€ to start the registration and to finish he asks for 2250€ … his name is Ahmed and he comes from Cyprus! the 250€ he wants to pay them immediately and tells me to transfer the rest. I made another 700€ (total 950€) on my account. I changed my password and I specify that I had put 2Fa on my account (2 passwords). A few hours later I wanted to log in and there was no way. No possibility, I tried everything. In my misfortune I was intelligent and sent 600€ on my second wallet on another site. I hope that this transaction took place otherwise I would have lost everything. Don’t be fooled. Disappointed and very very sad. First time scammed and last time!”
English translation: “A scam! Absolutely not to be trusted! This is how they do it: A “trader” with an unconventional name ex Richard (especially when based in Cyprus) calls you and presents himself as an experienced trader. He assures you that the company is regulated and that he has 14 years of experience…Then he tells you that you have an investment to make of 2500 euro in order to make high profits (we are talking about 250 euro in one week). Then they tell you that in order to to earn even more (we are talking about thousands of euros of profits), you have to invest a total of 10,000 euros… I tried to get my money back from then on..and it was IMPOSSIBLE to get it back. They refused all my transfers to my account. From 2500 euro I went to ZERO. My advice: Don’t trade when you are a novice and if you really want to trade, do it with a FRENCH or GERMAN company with a good background (always check)…That will teach me that in this world, there is no miracle when it comes to money.”
Source: https://forbino.com/en/review/dualix-maxigrid/
As you can see, the reviews speak for themselves. As lawyers specialising in the field, you should look at the reviews and check whether the broker is regulated in the country where you are located among other things.
The sanctions imposed in 2021 against Maxigrid Ltd
In 2021, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) notified the Malta Financial Services Authority for the withdrawal of Maxigrid Ltd’s licence. CySEC has suspicions of alleged violations such as:
- “Section 5(5) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Act 2017 (“the Act”) as the company appears to be conducting activities and/or being engaged in the conduct of activities and/or facilitating the conduct of activities not declared in its licence; and
- Section 22(1) of the Act as the Company does not appear at any time to meet the conditions for authorisation set out in sections 9(2) – suitability of members of the management body, 11(1)(b) – suitability of the shareholder, of the Act.”
We understand that not only the company was under suspicion, but also the directors. However, the directors will not be sanctioned this year.
With this decision, the company could not present itself and provide investment services and have new clients. However, it could carry out transactions with its existing clients and return their funds and financial instruments attributable to them.
Source: https://www.cysec.gov.cy/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=9982be8e-3983-4385-8469-0b75837e9658
Sanctions against the directors in 2022
One year later, the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) wanted to inform the public about the non-compliance of Maxigrid Ltd.
CySEC then examined the non-compliance of the Board of Directors of Maxigrid Ltd. The directors under investigation are:
- Mr Roy Almagor, former non-executive director, chairman and shareholder during the period from 22.05.2019 to 18.10.2021,
- Ms Jekaterina Pedosa, Executive Director from 02.10.2019,
- Ms Katerina Papanicolaou, Executive Director from 15.02.2021,
- Mr. Nikolai Monogarov, former non-executive director for the period from 29.07.2015 to 15.02.2021,
- Mr. Alexis Zampas, former non-executive director for the period from 02.10.2019 to 05.11.2021
- Mr. Pavlos Iosifides, former non-executive director for the period from 26.05.2021 to 17.11.2021
- Mr. Ioannis Chasikos, former non-executive director for the period from 01.09.2021 to 19.11.2021
According to CySEC, the latter failed to ensure and guarantee an efficient and prudent management of the company in order to promote the integrity of the financial markets and the interest of its clients. Specifically, at the time of the events (around 4 September 2020 – October 2021), the principle of governance, which is set out in the section of the law, was not applied.
CySEC then issued several sanctions against the managers:
- Mr. Roy Almagor has an administrative fine of €200,000 and a ban on exercising management functions in FIAs for a period of five years.
- Ms Jekaterina Pedosa has an administrative fine of €10,000 and a ban on exercising management functions in FIAs for a period of five years.
- Ms. Katerina Papanicolaou is prohibited from exercising management functions in FIAs for a period of two years.
- Mr Nikolai Monogarov is also banned from performing management functions in FIAs for a period of two years.
- Other managers such as Alexis Zampas, Pavlos Iosifides and Ioannis Chasikos are not fined or banned.
Source: https://www.cysec.gov.cy/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=873e124c-5d05-44dd-824a-e2c06f402ad9
In conclusion, directors can be sanctioned for mismanagement as well as corporate responsibility. If you feel you have been scammed on trading platforms, with an account manager or otherwise, you can contact our expert lawyers in the field. They will be glad to help you find solutions if possible.
