On the 30^th of November 2022, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), published Circular C537, to introduce a new form regarding cross-border activity offered by Cyprus Investment Firms (CIF).

The Form CBRT-CIF requires the collection of data concerning the provision of investment services and activities to retail clients, including clients categorised as elective professionals, analysed per each Member State.

The reporting template has been issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and is comprised of two parts:

1. Information regarding the CIF and the person designated as the point of contact for the form.
2. Information regarding the passporting activities that the CIF provided to retail clients in other Member States, including information about:
   1. the number of clients serviced per each Member State, broken down by investment and ancillary service;
   2. the number of complaints received per financial product and topic;
   3. the marketing strategy employed by the CIF in that Member State.

It is worth noting that the second part of the template contains thirty (30) separate worksheets each one corresponding to a different Member State. CIF entities are required to complete only the worksheets for those Member States where the materiality threshold of fifty (50) retail clients, including elective professionals, is reached. The worksheets that have not been used should be removed.

The information requested concerns the services and activities provided on a freedom-to-provide basis and not on a freedom-of-establishment basis.

The form constitutes a reporting obligation for all CIF authorised by the 31^st of December 2022, with a minimum of fifty (50) retail clients, including elective professionals, in at least one host Member State. The reference period for the data to be provided is the entire year of 2022 and the form must be submitted through CySEC’s Transaction Reporting System (TRS), by 15:00 hrs on the 27^th of January 2023. The form will represent an annual reporting obligation for CIF regulated entities.

It is highlighted that the said form must not be digitally signed, locked or altered by any means and shall be regarded as successfully submitted when a no-error indication feedback file is received upon submission. The naming convention of the file must be in the form ‘Username_yyyymmdd_CBRT-CIF’, where the Username denotes each CIF’s TRS credentials and the yyyymmdd the end of the corresponding reporting period.

In addition, CySEC stresses the fact that CIF entities which do not submit the said form promptly and duly completed will bear the relevant administrative fine.

The SALVUS Risk Management team can support you in preparing the Cross Border Activity Form promptly, on your behalf.

Contact us at info@salvusfunds.com if you require additional information or support with the submission of the CBRT-CIF Form.

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