Was EXANTE Fined by the SEC? 2016 Case & Fees (2026)

The short answer

EXANTE was not fined or sanctioned by the SEC. In the 2016 "hacked newswire" case (SEC Litigation Release LR-23471), nine brokerage clients used their EXANTE accounts to execute trades on stolen corporate earnings data. The SEC charged those nine individuals. At the same time it filed those charges, the SEC dismissed all claims it had previously made against EXANTE itself.

EXANTE is regulated by CySEC (licence 165/12), MFSA (Malta), and the FCA (FRN 589898). It is not registered with the SEC because it does not serve US retail investors.

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What the 2016 SEC "hacked newswire" case actually was

In 2015 and 2016, the SEC charged over 40 defendants across multiple actions in connection with a large-scale hacking scheme. The alleged scheme worked as follows: hackers broke into two major financial newswire services and obtained corporate earnings announcements before they were released to the public. They then transmitted this non-public information to traders across Russia, Ukraine, Malta, Cyprus, France, and three US states.

Nine of those traders were customers of Malta-based Exante Ltd. They held brokerage accounts at EXANTE and used those accounts to place trades based on the stolen data, generating approximately $19.5 million in alleged profits.

The SEC charged those nine individuals directly. At the same time, the SEC dismissed its earlier claims against EXANTE as the brokerage firm. EXANTE's role was as the account-holding broker — not as a participant in the scheme.

The SEC's own litigation release (LR-23471) states this explicitly: "The nine defendants charged were brokerage customers of Malta-based Exante Ltd., and engaged in their allegedly illegal trading through a brokerage account held in Exante's name. At the same time that it filed these new charges, the SEC dismissed claims previously filed against Exante based on the same trades."

This is the entirety of EXANTE's documented history with the SEC. The firm was a brokerage where the defendants held accounts. It was not charged, fined, or found to have violated any rule.

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EXANTE's current regulatory status (2026)

EXANTE holds licences from three regulators, each verifiable in their public registers:

Regulator	Licence	Client compensation
CySEC (Cyprus)	165/12	ICF up to €20,000
MFSA (Malta)	XNT Ltd	Investor Compensation Scheme (€20,000)
FCA (United Kingdom)	FRN 589898	FSCS up to £85,000

No FCA enforcement notices against EXANTE appear in the FCA's public enforcement register (verified June 2026). EXANTE is not registered with the SEC and does not onboard US retail clients.

For clients assigned to the UK entity (EXANTE Ltd., FRN 589898), FSCS compensation of up to £85,000 applies. For clients through the CySEC or MFSA entities, the EU Investor Compensation Fund covers up to €20,000.

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What "EXANTE penalties" usually means in practice

The most common reason people search "EXANTE penalties" has nothing to do with regulators. It refers to EXANTE's inactivity fee structure, which is unusual compared to most retail brokers.

Inactivity fee: €50 per month

This fee applies only when all three of the following conditions are met simultaneously:

1. No trades executed in the past 90 days
2. Free cash balance below €5,000
3. No open positions or active orders

If you hold any open position — even a single share of an ETF — the fee does not apply. A funded buy-and-hold account with positions is fully exempt. The fee targets abandoned, near-empty accounts that have been dormant for more than three months.

Withdrawal fee: €30 per transaction

EXANTE charges €30 per wire transfer withdrawal. There is no deposit fee and no annual account maintenance fee.

Minimum deposit: $10,000

This is not a penalty but a hard entry threshold: below $10,000 you cannot open an account. This alone excludes the majority of retail investors. For a full breakdown of EXANTE's cost structure against competitors, see our EXANTE vs Interactive Brokers comparison.

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The bottom line for skeptical researchers

EXANTE emerged from the 2016 SEC case with no charges, no fines, and no regulatory finding against it. Its connection to the case was limited to its role as the brokerage holding the defendants' accounts — a role from which the SEC explicitly cleared it.

Its current regulatory record — CySEC, MFSA, FCA, with no enforcement actions found in public registers — is substantive and verifiable. The fee structure is conditional and transparent, if expensive for smaller or inactive accounts.

EXANTE is not suited for most retail investors. The $10,000 minimum, the absence of fractional shares, and the inactivity fee on near-empty dormant accounts make it a poor fit for anyone starting out or trading infrequently. For high-net-worth clients who trade regularly across 50+ markets and 600,000+ instruments, it competes directly with Interactive Brokers and Just2Trade.

Read our full EXANTE broker review for scores, feature tables, and a complete editorial verdict.

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Not financial advice. Regulatory status verified against primary registers (SEC.gov LR-23471, FCA Register, CySEC Register) as of June 2026. EXANTE's fee structure may change; verify current terms at exante.eu before opening an account.