A spotlight on the leading Cyprus investment firms

Over the years, Cyprus has become a hub for leading global investment firms looking to expand their operations into Europe and across the globe.

Thanks to its regulatory framework and its standing as a pillar of stability in the market, the country has caught the eye of numerous international firms, which, after being licensed by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC), have opened flagship offices in the country and now offer services throughout the European Union.

GOLD magazine recently profiled 18 well-established firms:

Libertex (Indication Investments Ltd)

Libertex (part of the Libertex Group, which was founded in 1997), was founded by Russian financier Vyacheslav Taran. The online broker has expanded its operations to Cyprus (since 2012, operated by Indication Investments Ltd), serving thousands with over 300 CFDs on underlying assets ranging from commodities to crypto, plus zero-commission stock investments. For those who need a primer on trading there’s even an education hub on the firm’s website. Now under the leadership of CEO Michael Geiger, Libertex employs 60 people in Cyprus, while the Libertex Group employs over 700 people globally. In 2022, Libertex became the first online trading partner of FC Bayern, making regular appearances in the German footballing powerhouse’s social media and on the LED board of the Allianz Arena, FC Bayern’s home ground. It has also piled up a multitude of awards, including the 2024 ‘Most Trusted Broker’ by European CEO and the “Global CFD Broker of the Year” nod at the 2024 PAN Finance Awards

eToro (Europe) Ltd

eToro was founded in January 2007 by three Israeli Entrepreneurs – Yoni and Ronen Assia and David Ring, who is no longer with the firm. The online trading and investing platform has expanded its operations into various markets, including Cyprus in 2010, with the Limassol office covering operations in the EU. As of January 2023, the company has over 35 million registered users from more than 100 countries. On eToro, everyone can hold a range of traditional and innovative assets and choose how they invest: by trading directly, investing in a portfolio or copying other investors. The firm has grown to employ more than 1,700 people globally. In September, it signed a two-year sponsorship agreement with Bayer 04 Leverkusen establishing eToro as an official trading partner. Through this partnership, eToro will gain exposure to the football club’s millions of fans and followers in Germany and around the world, through an extensive range of marketing and educational opportunities, including player access and rights on Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s various online platforms.

RoboMarkets Ltd

RoboMarkets is a European brokerage firm that has operated since 2013 from its head office in Limassol. It provides financial trading services to more than 250,000 opened trading accounts and has earned numerous prestigious awards. Starting from early 2025, high-risk and leveraged instruments like FX and CFDs will be entirely removed and unavailable through the firm as it will become an institutional broker only. This shift will allow it to focus exclusively on optimising the technology, execution and other aspects of its top-quality products. In 2023, it was honoured as the Safest European Broker at the London Trader Show Awards and named ‘Best Stocks Broker (Europe)’ in the B2B category of the GF Awards. RoboMarkets is also passionate about sport, sponsoring European and local sports initiatives, including BMW M Motorsport, Autolife Team, Eintracht Frankfurt, Limassol Shooting Club, RoboMarkets AEL Volleyball team, the Cyprus Karate Federation, and Limassol Sporting Club (Tennis Academy).

Match-Prime Liquidity (MTG Liquidity Ltd)

Match-Prime is a brand owned and operated by MTG Liquidity Ltd and has been in operation since 2020 with CEO Andreas Kapsos at the helm. Match-Prime provides its clients with comprehensive solutions and security for their business, offering transparent conditions without hidden costs and flexibility. The company provides liquidity access to 1,000+ trading instruments and 7 asset classes on a single account including Forex, Cash Indices, Commodities, Metals, ETFs, Future Indices, Energies and Equities. It has two offices in Nicosia and Limassol. To provide the highest standards of its deep liquidity services, Match-Prime relies on advanced technology developed by the team of an industry-valued provider, Match-Trade Technologies, also owned by MTG Liquidity Ltd. Match-Prime has sponsored local football team Omonia FC since 2022, with the company’s logo placed on the sleeves of Omonia’s official match kit.

Windsor Brokers (WB TRADE EU LTD)

Windsor Brokers was established on the island in 1988 under CEO Johny Abuaitah, first regulated by the Central Bank. Since 2004, it has been regulated by CySEC. It provides investors with access to the global markets and protect their funds from extreme market conditions, as well as from their own inflicted risks. Windsor Brokers offers CFD trading. The firm’s mission is to facilitate clients’ access to the financial markets by providing regulated and transparent trading practices, as well as unrivalled customer support. Over the past decade Windsor Brokers has won numerous awards, most recently the 2023 Financial Markets award for the top 100 companies in the Middle East and the Forex Expo Dubai award for business excellence. An active firm in Cyprus, it has taken part in many local CSR initiatives including blood drives and donating equipment to hospitals at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plus500 CY

Plus500 is a global multi-asset fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading platforms. The firm began operations in Cyprus in 2014 at its Limassol-based office, headed by Israeli CEO Ofir Chudin. Plus500 offers customers a range of trading products, including Contracts for Difference (CFDs), share dealing and futures trading. Plus500 has a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. The company is a rapidly growing CFD provider and currently offers a portfolio of over 2,800 instruments. Globally, the firm has over 550 employees and has one of the highest-rated trading apps on both Apple’s app store and Google Play. As of 2023, it had over 250,000 clients worldwide and brought in a revenue of over $726 million. The firm sponsors the Chicago Bulls in the US, and football teams Legia Warsaw and Switzerland’s BSC Young Boys, each with an established presence on the club’s jerseys.

Capital.com Investments

Capital.com was founded in Cyprus by serial entrepreneur Viktor Prokopenya, founder of global investment firm VP Capital. Today, the Limassol-based office is headed by Christoforos Soutzis. The firm has a global presence with offices in Poland, the UK, Australia, Gibraltar, Bulgaria, Lithuania, the Bahamas and, more recently, the UAE, employing a 700-strong team. It primarily operates as a CFD broker, offering access to more than 3,000 products. In May, the firm announced that total client trading volumes had reached more than $1.2 trillion in 2023 – breaching the $1 trillion mark for the first time since its inception in 2016. In 2023, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ranked the company as one of 50 fastest-growing tech firms across the Middle East and Cyprus. In 2024, it was named ‘best in class’ in five award categories – ‘Crypto trading’, ‘Ease of use’, ‘Commissions and fees’, ‘Education’, and ‘Beginners’ – at the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards. Also in the same year, the firm obtained licencing for security trading in the UAE.

XM (Trading Point Group)

XM (Trading Point) was founded in 2009 in Limassol by Constantinos Cleanthous. The firm is a financial services provider offering brokerage products for the modern trader through its regulated entities. Under the brand Trading Point are three companies: XM, trading.com, and trading.com markets EU. XM has over 10 million clients worldwide and has grown into a large, well-established firm in the Cypriot market. XM currently employs more than 1,400 professionals with many years of experience in the financial industry. It has won several awards over the years and was classed as an Outstanding Global Forex Broker by Capital Finance International Magazine in 2024. It has partnered with several awareness organisations around the globe as part of its CSR to help various causes, including raising autism awareness and working with charitable organisations in Sri Lanka following years of civil war in the country.

FXPro

FXPro was founded in 2006, four years after the idea for the firm was conceived in Cyprus. It was headed by former CEO Charalambos Psimolophitis for several years and has now come under the direction of Russian businessman Denis Sukhotin. The firm has more than 300 employees in its offices in Cyprus, the UK, Monaco, the United Arab Emirates and the Bahamas. FXPro has over 7 million client accounts worldwide and has won more than 100 awards. The firm works with CFDs in 6 asset classes: Forex, Shares, Spot Indices, Futures, Spot Metals and Spot Energy. In 2024, it was named Best Regulated Forex Broker by FxEmpire and also Best Stock CFD Broker in Europe. Since 2018, the firm has sponsored McLaren Racing, which competes in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Trading 212

Trading 212 was founded in 2004 in Bulgaria by Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov as Avus Capital and was incorporated in the UK in 2013. Following Brexit, it opened an office in Cyprus in 2021 to continue serving its European clients. The firm offers free, smart and easy-to-use apps, enabling anyone to trade Stocks, ETFs, Forex, Commodities and more. Trading 212 has 3 million lifetime funded accounts and manages €4 billion in client assets. The company entered the stock brokerage industry by offering the first zero-commission stock trading service in the UK and Europe, unlocking the stock market for millions of people. Its mobile app has more than 15 million downloads, which makes it one of the most popular trading apps in the world. Since 2016, Trading 212’s app has been the UK’s #1 trading app, and in 2017 it reached the #1 spot in Germany.

Freedom24 (Freedom Finance Europe)

Freedom Finance Europe or, as it’s better known, Freedom24 was registered in Cyprus in 2013 and received its CySEC licence in 2015. The firm operates out of its Limassol-based office headed by CEO Timur Turlov, who founded Freedom holding in 2008. Freedom Finance Europe Ltd obtained direct membership of the international central securities depository Euroclear in 2021, expanding its range of operational, settlement and depository services for clients in the European, UK, and US markets. By June 30, 2024, the Group’s assets amounted to $8.5 billion, total liabilities were $7.3 billion and the shareholders’ equity was $1.2 billion. Freedom Holding stocks are listed on NASDAQ and the Holding currently has a market capitalisation of approximately $6.6 billion. The firm implements a number of CSR initiatives in Cyprus to support the local community and was the main sponsor of the 2023 European Championship FAREAST 28R, supporting the largest international regatta held in Cyprus. It is also the Super Grand Sponsor of Olympic Medallist Pavlos Kontides, and supported his journey to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

IKOS

IKOS was established in 1991 as one of the first European systematic asset managers. The firm operates a global infrastructure from its head office in Cyprus, utilising execution sites and facilities in New York. IKOS has been headed by CEO Elena Ambrosiadou ever since she founded the firm, which creates and executes trading strategies based on mathematical modelling, statistical analysis, factor analysis and the exploitation of multiple time horizon effects. IKOS has won several awards in its more than 20 years of operation from EuroHedge and HedgeFunds. IKOS is a sponsor of the Oxford Philomusica Symphony Orchestra, founded by Music Director Marios Papadopoulos in 1998, which has become one of the leading symphony orchestras in the UK. It is the resident orchestra at the University of Oxford and is involved in a number of educational schemes for the benefit of the student community. Elena Ambrosiadou has been a Trustee of the charity since January 2005.

Exness

Exness Group is a global multi-asset broker, founded in 2008 with the mission to reshape the online trading industry. The firm became a CySEC-regulated entity in 2012 and is headed by the company’s CEO and founder, Petr Valov. Exness is involved in CFD trading, servicing over 800,000 active traders, and in May 2024, it hit a record of US$5,1 trillion in trading volumes. In Cyprus, it has some 600 employees in its Limassol office. Exness adheres to the EU’s MiFID II directives, further enhancing the security of client funds and trading operations. As part of its CSR initiatives in Cyprus, exercise bikes have been donated to a school for children with disabilities and to the Multiple Sclerosis society. In Cyprus and Malaysia, computers and iPads have been donated to visually impaired children, and Exness employees participate in blood drives. In Vietnam, the company sponsored a bridge construction project and, in Malaysia, a group of Exness employees travelled the jungle to support the educational needs of, and provide provisions to, the indigenous Orang Asli community.

NAGA Markets Europe Ltd

Having received a CySEC license in 2015, NAGA became a leading European neobroker based in Limassol offering various CFD instruments and a social trading function. In 2023, due to the economic environment, it reduced its workforce from 173 to 100 employees. In the same year, it merged with the Key Way Group, the parent company of Capex.com, with its founder and CEO, Octavian Patrascu assuming the role of CEO of the merged entity. It will operate under eight global licences and is expected to serve 1.5 million users across more than 100 countries, with an ambitious goal of expanding its user base to 5 million by 2025. With its joint licences, NAGA and CAPEX can operate in more than 50 countries, including the fast-growing MENA region. The firm sponsors Italian football team Juventus and athletes in other sporting areas, including UFC. Its offices in Cyprus are located in Limassol and the firm employs around 1,000 people globally.

CISCO (Bank of Cyprus Online Trading)

CISCO is one of the leading providers of investment services in Cyprus. It was founded in 1982 and received regulatory licencing from CySEC in 2003. CISCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Cyprus, the largest and oldest banking group in Cyprus. It is a fully fledged financial services firm, with offices located in Engomi, Nicosia. It is a member of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) and a remote member of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). It offers trading services on equities, ETFs, CFDs, futures, ETOs (Extended Trade Options) and bonds. The firm’s General Manager is Christos Kalogeris, who took up the position in April 2022 and is a member of the Board. Prior to that, he served as General Manager and Board member of BOC Asset Management Ltd. In 2020, Capital Finance International named CISCO ‘Best International Investment Banking Team - Cyprus’.

Mega Equity

Mega Equity is a public joint stock firm established in 1999 and lists around 190 shareholders. In May 2003, CySEC granted it a licence to operate as a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF). In August 2006 the Hellenic Capital Market Commission granted the company a licence to provide investment services in Greece. Headquartered in Nicosia, the firm’s services include the reception, transmission and execution of orders in global financial markets, proprietary trading and investment advice. It also offers ancillary services, including custody and administration of financial instruments, credit and loan services and collective investment management for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). The Managing Director of the firm is Nicolas Papacostas, who was appointed Executive Director in 2002. He is a registered stockbroker representative of the Cyprus Stock Exchange and Athens Stock Exchange.

Argus Stockbrokers Ltd

Argus is a fully licensed Nicosia-based investment services firm, offering a wide range of services and products. Its core services include asset management, global brokerage execution, investment advice and corporate finance and consulting. Argus Stockbrokers Ltd offers the Argus Global Trader by Saxo in Cyprus. The platform offers access to a wide range of assets, including Forex, stocks and commodities, all on a secure and intuitive platform. Argus received its CySEC licensing in 2003 and is headed by Managing Director Andri Tringidou, who holds a BSc in Economics (University of Cyprus) and Professional Competency Certificates of the Ministry of Finance in Order Reception and Transmission, Investment Advice, Underwriting and Sponsoring Supervisor, Own Account Dealing and Portfolio Management. She is a licenced Stock Trader for the Athens Stock Exchange and an Accredited Business Consultant (Cyprus Institute of Technology) with specialisations in General and Financial Management. She worked at various brokerage firms before founding Argus Stockbrokers in 2000.

Athlos Capital

Athlos Capital specialises in the trading of fixed income instruments in the bond markets of Cyprus and Greece. The firm trades and settles a wide range of securities, including liquid Eurobonds or illiquid bonds on domestic exchanges. The firm obtained its CySEC regulation in 2017 after being launched in Nicosia a year earlier by Managing Director Ioannis Petri. He has extensive expertise in fixed income trading with a focus on the Cyprus and Greek markets, emerging markets and risk management. Petri holds a BA in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Financial Risk Management from the ICMA Centre, University of Reading. The firm employs around 50 people locally.

(This article first appeared in the October edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.)