CySEC launches CyTBOR registry platform

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) announced the launch of an online platform which will reinforce its efforts to curtail money laundering.

CySEC, in a press release said that the Cyprus Beneficial Ownership Register of Express Trusts and Similar Legal Arrangements (CyTBOR) will be accessible to trustees from May 17 and from June 17 to all other parties involved.

According to CySEC’s announcement, the need to create the registry stems from the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering Activities Law of 2007, which is fully in line with the 4th and 5th European Directives on combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The CyTBOR platform will allow for quick and easy searches for up-to-date information and data on the beneficial owners of explicit trusts and similar legal arrangements of each trust.

Data available will identify the trustees, protectors (if any), the beneficiaries and any other natural persons who exercise ultimate control over the trust through direct or indirect ownership or by other means.

“This is a very important project, both for the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and for our country, that will help in the full transparency and compliance of all supervised entities, which will ensure the credibility of the market,” said CySEC’s president George Theocharides.

Theocharides added that unhindered access to the registry will be granted within the framework of their responsibilities to all supervisory authorities, including the Customs Department, the Inland Revenue Service, MOKAS and the Police.

According to CySEC, it will now be possible to provide timely information on the beneficial owners of explicit trusts and similar legal arrangements to the respective competent authorities of other EU Member States.

Moreover, all liable entities will have access to the registry as part of due diligence and identification measures of their clients.