Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission reports Supreme Constitutional Court decision upholding EUR 430,000 fine against Cyprus Popular Bank executive

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission published an announcement noting that the Supreme Constitutional Court, sitting on appeal, dismissed Christos Stylianides’ appeal and upheld the Administrative Court’s judgment confirming CySEC’s 28 April 2014 decision to impose a total administrative fine of EUR 430,000. The sanction related to Stylianides’ role as then Deputy Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Risk Management Committee of Cyprus Popular Bank Public Co Ltd, following an investigation into the bank’s investment in OED. The fine covered breaches of the Transparency Requirements Law concerning the directors’ and other responsible persons’ statement in the bank’s half-yearly financial report for the period ended 30 June 2010 and its annual financial report for the year ended 31 December 2010, and breaches of the Public Offer and Prospectus Law linked to prospectuses dated 28 May 2010, 21 December 2010 and 19 May 2011, as well as the bank employees’ provident fund prospectus dated 1 September 2010, which he signed. The Supreme Constitutional Court rejected all grounds of appeal, including claims about misassessment of Stylianides’ duties and role, error by CySEC, defective composition of CySEC’s board, and alleged bias by the chair, and concluded the first-instance findings were correct.