The Cyprus regulator first fined Hoch Capital, the company behind the trading brands iTrader and TradeATF, 260 thousand euro over a wide spread of compliance breaches, and then went on to strip the firm of its licence altogether. The Hoch Capital CySEC case is a full arc, from a large fine to the end of the firm's authorisation.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission reached the 260 thousand euro settlement with Hoch Capital Ltd over possible violations that reached across many of a broker's core duties: the requirements of its Cyprus investment firm authorisation, its record keeping, its management of conflicts of interest, the information it gave clients, its best execution obligations, and the accuracy of the information it submitted. The regulator later withdrew both the firm's licence and its membership of the investor compensation framework.
A Fine That Touched Almost Everything
What stands out about the original settlement is its breadth. Best execution is whether a broker gets clients the best available terms. Conflict management is whether it puts clients ahead of its own book. Record keeping and accurate submissions are whether the regulator can see what the firm is doing. Client information is whether traders are told the truth. A single case touching all of these is not a narrow lapse. It is a finding that the firm was falling short across the board.
The 260 thousand euro number reflected that breadth. But the more telling development came afterward. A fine is a correction that assumes the firm will continue, chastened, under its licence. A licence withdrawal is the regulator concluding that the firm should not continue at all. When both happen to the same broker, the story is not one of a firm that stumbled and recovered. It is one of a firm that was penalised heavily and then removed.
What Happened to iTrader and TradeATF
The brands most clients knew were iTrader and TradeATF, not the licensed company Hoch Capital. That separation is the usual pattern, and it is the usual problem. A client who traded through iTrader or TradeATF would not necessarily have followed the enforcement trail to a company called Hoch Capital, nor known that the entity behind their platform had been fined 260 thousand euro and then lost its authorisation. The brand can carry on looking familiar right up until the licence behind it is gone.
The Hoch Capital case is older, but it is a clean illustration of how a broker actually ends when the regulator loses patience. A broad fine comes first, touching best execution, conflicts, records and disclosure, and the withdrawal of the licence follows. For a client, the lesson is to treat a wide-ranging enforcement finding as the warning it is. A firm penalised across so many core duties at once is a firm whose licence may not be long for this world, and the people most exposed are the ones still trading through its consumer brands.
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Follow the Entity, Not the Brand.
Hoch Capital is what a full regulatory failure looks like from start to finish. First a 260 thousand euro settlement that touched almost every core duty a broker has — best execution, conflicts of interest, record keeping, client information and accurate reporting — and then the withdrawal of the licence and the investor compensation membership that went with it.
The brands clients actually used, iTrader and TradeATF, told them none of this. That is the enduring lesson even from an older case. A wide enforcement finding is rarely the end of the story, it is often the middle, and the firms penalised across the board are the ones whose licences tend to disappear next.
Follow the entity, not the brand.
About the Company
About Hoch Capital Ltd (iTrader / TradeATF)
Regulator
CySEC (Cyprus)
Jurisdiction
Cyprus (EU)
Action Type
Settlement Then Licence Withdrawal
Penalty
EUR 260,000 plus licence loss
Hoch Capital Ltd was a Cyprus investment firm that operated the retail forex and CFD trading brands iTrader and TradeATF, supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. In December 2020 CySEC reached a 260 thousand euro settlement with the firm over possible breaches spanning its authorisation requirements, record keeping, conflict of interest management, client information, best execution and reporting.
The regulator subsequently withdrew the firm's licence and its membership of the investor compensation fund.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hoch Capital still regulated?
No. After fining Hoch Capital, CySEC withdrew the firm's licence and its investor compensation fund membership, so it is no longer an authorised Cyprus broker.
What brands did Hoch Capital operate?
It ran the retail trading brands iTrader and TradeATF.
Why was Hoch Capital fined?
CySEC found possible breaches across authorisation requirements, record keeping, conflicts of interest, client information, best execution and reporting, and reached a 260 thousand euro settlement in December 2020.
Is iTrader or TradeATF safe for traders?
The operator lost its licence, so these brands are not a safe home for funds. Compare active, regulated brokers in our Best Forex Brokers in 2026 ranking.
Editor's note & source: Factual points are drawn from the CySEC public decisions register. Primary source: CySEC Public Decisions. This article is not legal advice. Last updated: 15 August 2026.