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ICF protects Forex Traders up to €20,000 - What is it and How to apply for your compensation?
Everything explained about ICF. What is Investor Compensation Fund for FX investors?
CySEC’s ICF. Who can and How can we receive Compensations?
A Forex broker that went to bankrupt, withdrawal rejections and profit cancellation for some reasons.
There are so many situations that you can receive “Compensations” from your Forex broker.
But who can receive it? and how?
Here, we have summarized the full conditions of ICF(Investor Compensation Fund).
What is CySEC’s ICF (Investor Compensation Fund)?
The Investor Compensation Fund for CIF Clients (“ICF”) is the Fund of its members.
“The members” is the “Cypriot Investment Firms” (or CIFs) that indicates the all financial companies based in Cyprus.
So the fund of the ICF is made by these financial companies.
Also the operation of ICF is regulated by the provisions of the Law and of the Directive of the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission).
This means that CySEC regulated Financial Companies in Cyprus, are basically with ICF.
Currently there are over 220 CIFs(Cypriot Investment Firms) funded the ICF(Investors Compensation Fund).
Who can receive the compensation from ICF?
Applicants need not be Cypriot citizens. Foreigners residing in Cyprus, as well as Cypriots or foreigners residing abroad, may also apply.
Basically, anyone who are clients of the members of ICF, can receive compensations as necessary.
Of course, you need to have a certain motive, and submit supporting evidences to prove that you are qualified to receive a compensation from ICF.
Check the website of your Forex broker, and see if they have mentioned that they are included in the group of ICF, if yes then your funds are protected up to 20,000 EUR.
In case you have mistaken the purpose of ICF, loss of your funds due to your investment result cannot be compensated.
List of CySEC regulated Brokers
What kind of “Losses”can be compensated?
You will be compensated when the members of ICF have failed to meet its obligation with its clients.
If you believe your Forex broker did not provide financial services as it should be, and the action has caused losses of your funds, then you may be applicable to receive compensations.
Such cases maybe, when your Forex broker:
- has gone bankrupt before returning your funds.
- cancelled your profits for some reason
- ran away with clients’ funds
- It is normal that your funds are returned to you, if not, you may send the application to ICF.
Furthermore, the ICF pays no compensation in respect of claims arising out of transactions involving individuals, convicted of a criminal offence for the said transactions.
How much is the Compensation?
The maximum amount of compensation paid to applicants, who will be deemed as eligible for compensation, is 20,000 EUR.
No matter the amount you applied for to be compensated, 20,000 EUR is the maximum compensation amount by ICF.
If you claim less than 20,000 EUR, then you may receive the full compensation from ICF.
Although the above conditions, only 3,417 EUR can be compensated if no investor compensation scheme is in operation in the third country.
How to apply to receive the “Compensation” from ICF?
There is an Online Application Form to claim your compensation from ICF, otherwise you need to send the physical letter with all required documents to the office of ICF.
The application form can be found in the link below.
![Screenshot of ICF Online Application Form](http://hercules.finance/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cysec-cyprus-icf-investor-compensation-fund-application-form-forex-brokers-300x182.jpg)
Through the Online Application Form, you need the following information to submit it:
- Your full personal information
- Description of your claim(the reason why you are claiming to receive the compensation)
- Documents/evidence to prove your claim is valid(any relevant supporting documents)
and more.
After submitting the application, CySEC may contact the relevant Forex broker to set out the views and make decisions will be made within 3 days to 3 months.
Then you just need to wait for them to contact you back, hear the answer from ICF.
If the amount of the claimed compensation amount exceeds 20,000 EUR, then the applicant will receive 20,000 EUR.
Trade with ICF protected brokers
Summary of Investor Compensation Fund
If your broker is a member of the Investor Compensation Fund, set up by the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) for all clients of Cyprus Investment Firms, then you are eligible to claim up to €20,000 compensation.
The purpose of the Investor Compensation Fund is to secure the claims of all covered clients, in this case retail clients, through the payment of compensation where the investment firm is unable to return client funds owed to them or funds which are held, directly or indirectly, in context of providing investment services or b) to hand over to covered clients financial instruments which belong to them which the investment firm holds, manages or keeps on their account.
This ensures that the clients of CIFs can claim compensation in the event that the company is unable to fulfill its obligations and provides the client with a form of insurance for their funds, in the case of insolvency on the part of your CIF or indeed any CIF which is part of the investor compensation fund.
The fund does not cover institutional or professional investors and the total payable compensation to each covered client may not exceed EUR20,000, irrespective of the number of accounts held, currency and place of offering the investment service.