The Council of Europe's anti-money laundering body (MONEYVAL) today published its report "Special Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Customer Due Diligence Measures in the Banking Sector in Cyprus". The assessment was conducted at the invitation of the Eurogroup Working Group (on behalf of the Troika institutions) to assist the decision-making process on Cyprus's request for financial assistance from the Euro area.

The report builds upon the MONEYVAL fourth round report on Cyprus, but largely focuses on the particular risks and shortcomings in the Cypriot banking sector.

The assessors note that the Cypriot authorities have taken a range of legislative and other measures, in line with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and European Union standards, to minimise the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism. Sound preventive requirements have been in place for several years at the levels of customer identification, identification of beneficial owner, record-keeping and reporting of suspicious activities. The report also positively notes the high standards of knowledge and experience of anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism issues demonstrated by banks and their commitment to implement customer due diligence measures. (more…)

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Cyprus and the Council of Europe

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