The Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday upheld a prior ruling by a lower court which had voided a €25,000 administrative fine slapped on a brokerage firm executive by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In February 2017 the commission – the regulator of investment firms – issued a decision imposing a €25,000 administrative on Stavros Hadjikyriacos, then executive director of CommexFX Ltd, a Forex brokerage.

SEC determined that the company did not meet the requirements to hold a licence and provide services.

Hadjikyriacos subsequently challenged the SEC decision at the administrative court. He argued it was null and void, as one of its members at the material time – Kypros Ioannides – was unqualified.

He argued that Ioannides did not meet the standards of the law pertaining to appointments to the SEC board. The law states that such appointees must have “recognised training and experience in money markets and capital markets.”

Effectively he was challenging the decision of the cabinet of September 2014 to appoint Ioannides to the position.

The administrative court sided with Hadjikyriacos, and set aside the February 2017 decision.

Next, SEC appealed this ruling at the Supreme Constitutional Court. It argued that Ioannides – a lawyer – did meet the job criteria, given his experience with corporate law.

SEC, the applicant in the appeal, said it was not up to the courts to assess Ioannides’ qualifications.

The respondent, representing Hadjikyriacos, counter-argued that the cabinet’s decision to appoint Ioannides was flawed. In its decision, the cabinet had merely listed Ioannides’ academic and professional resume, but had not justified why he merited the position as it ought to.

Having heard both sides, in its judgement the Supreme Constitutional Court again sided with Hadjikyriacos and upheld the prior ruling of the administrative court, finding no fault with it.

As such, the top court ruled against SEC’s appeal and awarded legal expenses to Hadjikyriacos.