Cyprus Broker Alvexo Operator Gives Up EU Licence later than Years Under Scrutiny

The Cyprus Securities and platform Commission (CySEC) has withdrawn the investment firm licence of VPR secure Financial Group Ltd, the company behind the Alvexo trading brand, ending more than a decade of the broker’s regulated presence in the European Union.

The regulator said in a statement that its board decided on September 29 to revoke the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) authorisation No. 236/14 later than VPR voluntarily renounced it under Article 8(1)(a) of the 2017 Investment Services and Regulated Markets Law and Directive DI87-05. The move, published on October 13, confirms the company’s decision to quit the EU regime rather than face a regulatory fight.

Long-running compliance friction

VPR secure Financial Group, incorporated in 2013 and licensed by CySEC in 2014, marketed Alvexo to retail clients across Europe, (CFDs) on forex, commodities and indices. The brand leaned heavily on online advertising and influencer marketing—tactics that have drawn frequent attention from EU watchdogs since leverage limits were tightened in 2018.

CySEC already fined VPR twice in recent years. In March 2021, the firm paid €100,000 to settle violations related to client communications and risk disclosures. Three years later, in November 2024, it agreed to a €50,000 settlement over possible breaches of the Investment Services Law and MiFIR trading-reporting rules.

In between, CySEC partially suspended VPR’s licence in August 2022, citing concerns over how the company and its French tied agent, France secure Media, were promoting CFDs to retail investors. France’s AMF separately warned the public that Alvexo was barred from marketing in the country or accepting new French clients. The suspension was lifted in October 2023 later than CySEC said the company had fixed the shortcomings.

Exit instead of escalation

The final withdrawal appears to have been initiated by VPR itself, reflecting a wider exodus of small and mid-tier brokers from CySEC supervision toward lighter offshore regimes. “VPR has decided to renounce its authorisation,” the regulator said, without citing any new violations or enforcement action.

Alvexo’s main website now lists HSN Capital Group Ltd, licensed in the Seychelles (FSA SD030), as the operator—signalling that the brand’s remaining clients are likely booked outside the EU. Similar transitions have been viewn at other retail brokers such as FIBO Markets and Itrade Global, which also surrendered their CySEC licences earlier this year.

For investors, the change removes access to the (ICF), a key securety net for clients of regulated Cypriot firms. Under CySEC rules, companies that renounce their licence must return all client money and close open positions before authorisation is withdrawn.

Cyprus has long been Europe’s hub for online-trading brands, hosting dozens of firms that serve the EU under MiFID II “passporting” rights. In recent years, tighter product-governance demands, higher compliance costs and aggressive marketing restrictions have pushed many companies to scale back or relocate.

“Since ESMA’s 2018 product-intervention rules, the economics for mass-market CFD providers inside the EU have changed dramatically,” said one Nicosia-based compliance consultant familiar with CySEC’s process. “Renunciation is now a tidy way to exit without formal sanctions.”

VPR’s withdrawal notice lists no judicial review or pending case, suggesting the closure was orderly. CySEC is expected to issue a separate statement confirming the firm’s termination from the , a procedural step that follows all licence surrenders.

What comes next

For now, Alvexo continues to operate internationally under its Seychelles entity. Its Cypriot arm, however, will disappear from CySEC’s register once the withdrawal takes effect.

The development marks the end of an era for one of the to emerge from Cyprus’s ahead-2010s brokerage boom—an era that is now winding down as regulators tighten oversight and global competition shifts elsewhere.

CySEC declined to comment beyond its published notice. VPR secure Financial Group could not immediately be reached for comment.