CySEC Circular C583: Cyprus Investment Firms Quarterly Statistics Submission for 30 June 2023

TO : Cyprus Investment Firms (‘CIFs’)
FROM : Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission DATE : June 30, 2023 CIRCULAR No : C583 FILE No : E.K. 02.03.001, E.K. 01.03.001 and E.K. 01.13.001.002.002 SUBJECT : CIFs Quarterly Statistics (Form QST-CIF) – 30/06/2023 Submission The present Circular is issued pursuant to section 25(1)(c)(ii) & (iii) of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Law (the ‘CySEC Law’). The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (the ‘CySEC') wishes to inform all CIFs about the following:

1. Information Requested by CySEC
   1.1 The latest version of the Form QST-CIF, Version 11, found in the Appendix, must be
   completed and submitted to CySEC by all CIFs that were authorised by June 30, 2023. In this respect, CIFs that were authorised by June 30, 2023, but have not made use of their authorisation must also submit the Form.
   1.2 The steps that CIFs will have to follow, for the successful submission of the Form to the TRS,
   can be found here. Upon submission, CIFs are responsible to ensure that they have received a feedback file, i.e. an official submission confirmation dispatched by the TRS in the Outgoing directory.
   1.3 The feedback file will either contain a NO ERROR indication or, in case that an error(s) has
   occurred during submission, the description of that error(s). In case of any errors detected during submission of the Form, CIFs must review the Form and ensure that all errors are addressed and corrected, before they digitally sign (only applicable for the Excel files) and re-submit the Form. The Form is regarded as being successfully submitted to CySEC, only when a NO ERROR indication feedback file is received. This feedback file is dispatched, only during CySEC regular hours.
2. Deadline for the submission of the Form
   2.1. The Form must be successfully submitted electronically via the CySEC’s Transaction
   Reporting System (‘TRS’) by 15:00 hrs, Friday, August 4, 2023, the latest. CySEC wishes to emphasise the importance of meeting the deadline set, for successful submission of the Form.

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2.2. Kindly note that the deadline for submissions of the Form to TRS is 5 weeks after each
quarter end.
2.3. Please refer to the table below for submission deadlines of the remaining quarters of
2023:
Quarter Reporting Period Submission Deadline
Q2 2023 01/04/2023-30/06/2023 04/08/2023
Q3 2023 01/07/2023-30/09/2023 06/11/2023
Q4 2023 01/10/2023-31/12/2023 05/02/2024
2.4. Failure to promptly and duly comply with the above may bear the administrative
penalties of section 37(5) of the CySEC Law. It is further noted that CySEC will not send any reminders to those CIFs, which fail to promptly and duly comply.
3. Useful information regarding the new version of the Form
3.1. Section K
3.1.1. Point 6.2
Please analyse the number of retail clients (physical persons only) reported in point 6.1 above, by classifying them into the specific age group.
3.1.2. Point 6.3
Please state the number of retail clients, out of the number of retail clients reported in point 6.1 above, that are classified/considered as first-time investors. "First-time investors" refer to investors with no prior experience in financial investments, based on the firms’ client suitability and/or appropriateness assessment.
3.2. Section L
3.2.1. Basis of provision of Services (Column C)
3.2.1.1. In Column C, please choose from the drop-down list, whether the
services/activities provided to clients whose country of residence is an EEA Country (excluding Cyprus) fall under ‘Freedom to provide services’ basis or under ‘Freedom of establishment’ basis.
3.2.1.2. For the provision of services to clients whose country of residence is Cyprus,
please choose the ‘Not Applicable' (N/A) option, under the basis of provision of services field (Column C).
3.2.1.3. For the provision of services to clients whose country of residence is a Third
Country, please choose the ‘Provision of Services in Third Country’ option, under the basis of provision of services field (Column C).

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4. General Comments for the Form
4.1. The Form will be available only in the English language.
4.2. CIFs are required to report data in Euro, rounded to the nearest unit.
4.3. Please always ensure that you have the latest version of the Form, i.e. Version 11.
4.4. Instructions on the completion of the Form can be found in the ‘Instructions’ worksheet
of the Form.
4.5. Definition of ‘client’ varies across different Sections of the Form. CySEC wishes to
emphasize the importance of reading the Instructions/Definitions Sections of the Form carefully when completing each Section.
4.6. Reporting periods vary across different Sections of the Form: “as at the reference date”,
“during the reporting period”, “during the cumulative reporting period”. CIFs are expected to read carefully the ‘General Instructions’ found on the top of each Section so that the figures reported in that Section refer to the correct reporting period. Kind reminder of the table below:
Quarter
Reporting Period Cumulative Reporting Period Reference Date Period Time Span Period Time Span Date Q1 01/01/20XX-31/03/20XX 3 months 01/01/20XX-31/03/20XX 3 months 31/03/20XX Q2 01/04/20XX-30/06/20XX 3 months 01/01/20XX-30/06/20XX 6 months 30/06/20XX Q3 01/07/20XX-30/09/20XX 3 months 01/01/20XX-30/09/20XX 9 months 30/09/20XX Q4 01/10/20XX-31/12/20XX 3 months 01/01/20XX-31/12/20XX 12 months 31/12/20XX
4.7. Before submitting the Form, please ensure that all validation tests that are contained in
the Form (Sections General Info, A, B, C, Reconciliation, D1, D2, E, F1, F2, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O and Validation Tests Worksheet) are TRUE (Green Colour).
5. Method of creating, signing and submitting the Form to the CySEC
After populating the required Excel fields in the Form, CIFs should name their Excel file in accordance to the following naming convention:
Username_yyyymmdd_QST-CIF
The information below explains the naming convention:
(1) Username – is the username of the TRS credentials, which should already be in the possession of the CIFs, which have previously submitted any electronic files to the TRS system. This codification should be entered in capital letters. CIFs, that have not previously requested the TRS credentials, can do so, by referring here, where further information is provided about the TRS.

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(2) yyyymmdd – this denotes the end of the reporting period of the Form. In this case, the Form should have a 20230630 format. Future forms will have different reporting periods. (3) QST-CIF – this is the coding of the Form, that it remains unchanged and should be inserted, exactly as it appears. (4) The Excel® must be of 2007 version and onwards. Excel will add the extension .xlsx, as soon as it is saved. This extension should not under any circumstances, be inserted manually. Τhe fully completed excel form, which is named based on the above paragraph, must be submitted only electronically, through the Transaction Reporting System (‘TRS’), within the timeframes set.
6. Support
6.1. Queries on how to complete the fields of the Form
Should you have any queries on the completion of Form QST-CIF, please submit them only in writing, any day PRIOR to Friday, July 28, 2023, by sending an email to the address riskstatistics.cifs@cysec.gov.cy.
6.2. Technical Queries on digitally signing and submitting the Form
For technical matters on digitally signing and submitting the Form, the CIFs are advised to frequently visit the CySEC’s website, at the specified section. For further clarifications, CIFs are requested to use the electronic address information.technology@cysec.gov.cy. All email communication with CySEC should include in the subject, the CIF’s full name and the TRS coding. Yours sincerely, Dr George Theocharides Chairman, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission