The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) welcomed the findings of a Moneyval report released a day prior regarding progress made in addressing money laundering and terrorism financing.

Moneyval is the Council of Europe’s committee of experts on evaluating anti-money laundering measures and the financing of terrorism.

The report recognised Cyprus’s improved compliance with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) regulations on new technologies and noted progress in enhancing compliance with non-profit organisations.

Since November 2022, Cyprus has bolstered its regime for virtual asset service providers, with only a few minor deficiencies remaining, according to the report.

In a comment on the report, CySEC Chairman Dr George Theocharides said, “Moneyval’s upgrade is a clear vote of confidence in the effectiveness of financial regulation in Cyprus, particularly in relation to Crypto-Asset Services Providers.

“CySEC put in place significant measures to assess and reduce risks in the crypto-assets sector and improve the level of compliance among providers. We continue to work with other authorities in Cyprus towards ensuring full compliance with the Financial Action Task Force Recommendation.”

This is the third follow-up report on the Republic of Cyprus conducted by Moneyval, during which experts assessed the technical compliance established by the Republic to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

The assessment evaluated the technical compliance of all relevant Cyprus authorities, including CySEC.

The report said that that Republic of Cyprus has made in terms of technical compliance with the FAFT Recommendations and especially in relation to new technologies.

The report highlights the progress made by the Republic of Cyprus in terms of technical compliance with FATF Recommendations, particularly concerning new technologies. The upgrade in the assessment of new technologies (Recommendation 15) reflects the significant progress and measures adopted by CySEC and other authorities to prevent and suppress money laundering and terrorist financing in the crypto-assets sector.

FATF Recommendation 15 concerns the international standards based on which states must apply anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting terrorist financing (CFT) measures concerning new technologies, mainly focusing on Crypto-Asset Services Providers (CASPs).

Moneyval assessed the level of technical compliance of the relevant Cyprus authorities, and particularly of CySEC as the competent authority for the prevention and suppression of money laundering and terrorist financing related to CASPs’ activities