Central Bank of Ireland fines Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland Limited EUR 452,790 for Market Abuse Regulation STOR reporting failures

The Central Bank of Ireland has fined Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland Limited EUR 452,790 for breaching Article 16(2) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation, after finding the firm failed on multiple occasions to report identified suspicious transactions and did not maintain effective arrangements to detect, assess and escalate suspicious orders and transactions between March 2017 and June 2023. The fine reflects a settlement, with the Central Bank’s assessed penalty of EUR 646,840 reduced by 30%. The investigation identified six sample occasions between September 2017 and May 2022 where Cantor’s surveillance system detected potentially suspicious activity but no suspicious transaction and order report (STOR) was filed, with the Central Bank concluding the firm was reckless in not reporting. It also found that an ineffective STOR committee impeded consistent reporting, including by applying unsound rationales, setting a higher-than-required reporting threshold, taking an inconsistent approach to client-issuer links, and limiting the compliance function’s role in decisions (with the Head of Compliance having no vote prior to December 2020). Additional failings included incomplete documentation of “near miss” decisions not to report, missing committee records, and instances where brokers did not internally escalate suspicious customer comments. Cantor confirmed it had remediated the failings by June 2023, and the Central Bank stated the enforcement action is concluded. The Central Bank urged firms to review their STOR reporting in light of the findings to ensure all reasonable suspicions are notified without delay.