CMVM - Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários

04/05/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/06/2021 08:25

CMVM and Cypriot counterpart inform companies registered in Cyprus on investor protection in Portugal

​6 March 2021

Within the scope of international cooperation with other regulators, the CMVM requested the collaboration of the Cypriot regulator to engage with investment companies registered with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) operating in Portugal. Within this context, CySEC disclosed to these entities, the rules that must be complied with if they wish to operate in Portugal using tied agents or, directly, to promote, distribute and advertise highly complex investment product packages, namely those known as PRIIPs.

This collaboration comes at a time of an increasing number of complaints and denunciations lodged by retail investors resident in Portugal against entities registered with CySEC that operate or offer complex products in Portugal, either directly through the respective websites or indirectly by third parties.

Clarifications aim to explain that:

  • an investment company that appoints tied agents to act in the national territory takes on unconditional responsibility for any action by these agents and has the duty to control its activities in order to ensure that all national legal provisions are complied with;
  • the tied agent can only act when the hiring of services is notified to the CMVM by the authority of the home Member State (CySEC) and is listed as a tied agent on the CMVM website which can be consulted by using the advanced search function on this page. Furthermore, the tied agent can only act on behalf of a single financial intermediary, may not delegate the powers conferred by that intermediary to third parties and has limited powers to act;
  • Any PRIIPS advertising requires prior approval by the CMVM. The associated communication of the Key Information Document (KID) must be made to the CMVM prior to its availability to investors. The list of PRIIPs communicated to the CMVM can be found here.
The responsibility for supervising financial intermediaries lies primarily with the supervisory authorities of the country wherein the financial intermediary is domiciled. Any investment company and its respective agents operating in Portugal are also subject to compliance with the rules of conduct in force in Portugal, namely, regarding the fulfilment of the duties of product information and suitability assessment for investors.

The CMVM often cooperates with its international EU and non-EU counterparts in the cross-border activity of financial intermediaries, tied agents and investors, seeking to ensure that the players in the Portuguese market operate, as applicable under the Portuguese legislation in force, ensuring adequate protection for retail investors residing in Portugal.

Additional information for consultation:

Circular Notes by CySEC:

- Circular Note on the requirements that tied agents of investment firms registered with CySEC must comply with when operating in Portugal

- Circular Note on the Portuguese legal framework regarding the promotion, distribution and advertising of PRIIPs

CMVM Regulation:

- CMVM Regulation No. 8/2018 on information and marketing duties relating to PRIIPs

(PT and EN versions)

Contact with the CMVM: Toll-free line 800 205 339 (from 09h00 to 18h00)