Industry
Accountants for Forex Brokers & CIFs in Cyprus
Tsquared supports Cyprus forex brokers and CIFs with regulatory accounting, capital-adequacy monitoring, client-money reconciliations, CySEC reporting, tax planning and audit.
Challenges you face - solutions we provide
The problems forex brokers, CIFs, payment and trading firms bring to us, and exactly how we solve them.
Guides for Forex Brokers & CIFs
Accounting for a CIF licence
Cyprus Investment Firms must keep IFRS accounts, monitor capital requirements and submit prudential returns to CySEC as a condition of their licence.
Capital adequacy under IFR
Under the EU Investment Firms Regulation, Cyprus CIFs must hold own funds above permanent minimum, fixed-overheads and K-factor requirements at all times.
Client-money reconciliations
CIFs must reconcile client money and assets daily and keep them segregated from company funds, with external audit of safeguarding each year.
CySEC regulatory reporting
CySEC requires CIFs to submit periodic prudential, financial and statistical returns, and late or inaccurate filings frequently lead to fines.
How forex brokers are taxed
Cyprus forex brokers pay 15% corporate tax on trading profits, and careful planning of group structure and transfer pricing keeps the effective rate competitive.
Paying introducing brokers
Payments to introducing brokers and affiliates need proper contracts, VAT treatment and KYC on recipients to satisfy CySEC and the Tax Department.
Transfer pricing for broker groups
Broker groups with Cyprus entities must price intra-group services at arm's length and keep transfer-pricing documentation once thresholds are met.
Audit of CIFs
CIF audits include financial statements, client-asset safeguarding and capital adequacy, so auditors need deep regulatory knowledge.
ICARAP for investment firms
Cyprus CIFs must run an internal capital and risk assessment process (ICARAP) to show they hold enough capital and liquidity for their risks.
Setting up a forex brokerage
Launching a Cyprus forex brokerage requires a CySEC CIF licence, initial capital, qualified staff, policies and a full accounting and compliance framework.
Payment and e-money firms
Cyprus payment institutions and EMIs licensed by the Central Bank need safeguarding, capital and regulatory returns similar to CIFs.
Payroll for broker staff
CIFs must apply remuneration policies, bonus deferral rules and correct payroll taxes, and many staff can use the 50% new-resident exemption.
Investor Compensation Fund
Cyprus CIFs must contribute to the Investor Compensation Fund based on eligible revenues, and contributions must be calculated and accrued accurately.
AML for forex brokers
Forex brokers must run risk-based AML procedures, annual AML reports and independent AML audits to satisfy CySEC.
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