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We researched and summarised for you, all recent regulatory updates from Cyprus and Europe, which are applicable for Regulated Companies operating in the Region.
We support our clients and associates by providing a comprehensive page with the recent circulars, directives, and guidance issued by the following Regulators:
20/06/2024 - C647 - New section on CySEC’s website regarding Terrorism Financing (TF) / Proliferation Financing (PF)
CySEC introduces a new section on its website called «Terrorism Financing (TF)/Proliferation Financing (PF)». This new section includes helpful information and publications on TF/PF, as well as relevant notifications.
C647 - New section on CySEC’s website regarding TF/PF
26/6/2024 – C648 – Notification of crypto asset services under article 60 of MiCA
CySEC informs Regulated Entities that under the Market in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), certain financial entities will have the option to provide crypto-asset services in the Union equivalent to the services and activities for which they are authorised under relevant EU law (see article 60 of MiCA for a detailed overview).
C648 - Notification - Crypto asset services under article 60 of MiCA
16/07/2004 – C653 - Annual Report of the Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS) for 2023
CySEC informs Regulated Entities that the Unit for Combating Money Laundering (‘MOKAS’) has published its Annual Report for 2023 (‘Annual Report’, ‘Report’). The Annual Report includes as per last year, the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) as well as the Additional Information File AIF-S or AIF-T.
C653 - Annual Report - MOKAS 2023 Read the full Annual Report 2023
06/08/2024 – C655 - Findings of the assessment of Compliance Officers’ Annual Reports and Internal Audit Reports on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing for the year 2022
CySEC conducted its annual risk-based assessment of Compliance Officers’ Annual Reports and Internal Audit Reports (the ‘Reports’). The relevant assessment concerns the Reports for the year 2022 and the relevant minutes of the Board of Directors (the ‘BoD’) submitted to CySEC in 2023. CySEC identifies some common weaknesses and deficiencies and wishes to remind the Regulated Entities to take immediate corrective actions.
C655 Assessment findings - Compliance officers' - Internal Audit Reports
08/08/2024 – C656 - Common weaknesses/deficiencies and good practices identified during the inspections performed for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing
During 2022 and 2023, CySEC performed inspections of its Regulated Entities to assess their compliance with the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law of 2007, as amended (‘the Law’) and CySEC’s Directive for the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, as amended (‘the Directive’).
From the inspections performed, CySEC has already outlined the measures that the specific Regulated Entities should implement to ensure full compliance with their AML/CFT requirements.
To support improvement across all Regulated Entities’ AML/CFT systems and 2 controls and to set expectations, CySEC shares some examples of good practices applied across Regulated Entities, as well as some weaknesses/deficiencies commonly identified during these inspections.
25/07/2024 - Monetary Financial Institutions (MFIs) Deposits and Loans Statistics
CBC released the MFIs deposits and loans statistics for the reference month of June 2024, which are included in the July 2024 edition of Monetary and Financial Statistics.
MFIs Deposits & Loans Statistics
02/08/2024 - Payment Statistics
The statistical report on Payment Statistics provides an overview of the main developments in non-cash payment services in Cyprus and useful information on the public's usage of payment cards and terminals. Non-cash payments are broken down by payment service into the following categories:
(a) credit transfers,
(b) direct debits,
(c) card payments,
(d) e-money payments,
(e) cheques, and
(f) money remittances.
Information is collected from all Cyprus resident payment service providers (PSPs), i.e. Credit Institutions, E-Money Institutions and Payment Institutions.
05/08/2024 – Economic Bulletin
CBC published the June 2024 edition of the Economic Bulletin (in Greek), which includes an analysis of economic developments in Cyprus and the CBC macroeconomic forecasts. The Economic Bulletin analyses the main international and domestic economic and financial developments, focusing primarily on developments in the Cyprus economy and the euro area. The Βulletin, prepared biannually, also presents the CBC’s forecasts for the main macroeconomic aggregates of the Cyprus economy.
Read the Economic Bulletin June 2024 (GR)
05/08/2024 - Key Aggregate Financial Indicators of the Cyprus Banking Sector for 2024Q1
CBC released the key aggregate financial indicators for the Cyprus banking sector for 2024Q1, compiled based on the Consolidated Banking Data (CBD).
Financial stability indicators
16/08/2024 - Investment Funds Statistics
CBC released the Investment Funds statistics for the reference month of June 2024. The number of investment funds increased from 328 in March 2024 to 330 in June 2024, whereas their total assets increased by approximately 0,9% to €6.848,7 million in June 2024, compared with €6.789,1 million in March 2024.
28/08/2024 – Monetary Financial Institutions (MFIs) Deposits and Loans Statistics
CBC released the MFIs deposits and loans statistics for July 2024, which are included in the August 2024 edition of Monetary and Financial Statistics.
06/06/2024 – Monetary policy decisions
The Governing Council decided to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points. Based on an updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation, and the strength of monetary policy transmission, it is now appropriate to moderate the degree of monetary policy restriction after nine months of steady holding rates.
24/06/2024 - ECB publishes first progress report on digital euro preparation phase
ECB published its first progress report on the digital euro preparation phase, launched on 1 November 2023, to lay the foundations for the potential issuance of a digital euro.
19/07/2024 - ECB publishes indicative operational calendars for 2025
ECB published the indicative calendars for the Eurosystem’s regular tender operations and reserve maintenance periods in 2025.
Read the indicative operational calendars for 2025
31/07/2024 – Guidelines - new generation TARGET
Guidelines (EU) 2024/[XX] of the European Central Bank of 30 July 2024 amending Guideline (EU) 2022/912 on a new-generation Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer system (TARGET) (ECB/2022/8) (ECB/2024/20)
01/08/2024 - ECB and EBA publish joint report on payment fraud
ECB and EBA published a joint report on payment fraud. The report assesses payment fraud data reported semi-annually by payment service providers across the European Economic Area (EEA) for a variety of payment instruments, such as credit transfers and card payments.
- Total value of fraud across main payment instruments at €4.3 billion for 2022 and €2.0 billion for the first half of 2023
- Report confirms the effectiveness of strong customer authentication requirements, in particular for protecting against card fraud
- Card fraud risk is lower for transactions within the European Economic Area, owing to the mandatory application of strong customer authentication.
Read the 2024 report on payment fraud
14/08/2024 - ECB harmonises rules for Eurosystem collateral management
ECB published harmonised rules and arrangements for mobilising and managing collateral in Eurosystem credit operations, marking a step towards further financial integration in the euro area and the capital markets union.
ECB harmonisation rules - Eurosystem collateral management
14/08/2024 – Guidelines - Management of collateral in Eurosystem credit operations
Guidelines (EU) 2024/[XX] of the European Central Bank of 13 August 2024 on the management of collateral in Eurosystem credit operations (ECB/2024/22)
14/08/2024 – Guidelines - Implementation - Eurosystem monetary policy framework
Guidelines (EU) 2024/[XX] of the European Central Bank of 13 August 2024 amending Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2014/60) (ECB/2024/23)
06/06/2024 –EBA regulatory products on governance and remuneration
EBA has been actively working on shaping the regulatory landscape for crypto assets by publishing three regulatory products on governance, conflicts of interest and remuneration under MiCAR. These products are part of the EBA’s ongoing efforts to foster a transparent, secure, and well-regulated crypto-assets market.
Read the three regulatory products under MiCAR
19/06/2024 - EBA publishes the package of technical standards and guidelines under MiCAR
The topics of reporting, liquidity stress testing and supervisory colleges. This package completes the delivery of EBA technical standards under MiCAR.
Read the package of technical standards and guidelines under MiCAR
27/06/2024 - EBA and ESMA publish guidelines on the suitability of management body members and shareholders for entities under MiCAR
EBA and ESMA published joint guidelines on the suitability of members of the management body and on the assessment of shareholders and members with qualifying holdings for issuers of asset reference tokens (ARTs) and crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) under the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCAR).
Read the joint guidelines on the suitability under MiCAR
28/06/2024 - The EBA amends its Guidelines on arrears and foreclosure following changes to the Mortgage Credit Directive
EBA published its amended Guidelines on arrears and foreclosure following the changes introduced in the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD).
Read the guidelines amendments
05/07/2024 - EBA brings the application of MiCAR to the attention of issuers, consumers, and other relevant stakeholders and announces priorities for the supervision of issuers of ARTs and EMTs for 2024/2025
EBA published a statement for the attention of persons issuing to the public, offering to the public, or seeking admission to trading of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs) and for consumers. EBA also sets out key topics for supervisory attention across the European Union for issuers of ARTs/EMTs in 2024/2025. Both documents are intended to promote the timely and consistent application of MiCAR.
17/07/2024 - Joint Guidelines on the estimation of aggregated costs/losses caused by major ICT-related incidents
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) published the second batch of policy products under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). This batch consists of four final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS), one set of Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) and 2 guidelines, all of which aim at enhancing the digital operational resilience of the EU’s financial sector.
Read the 2nd batch of policy products under DORA
24/07/2024 - EBA extends the existing Joint Committee Guidelines on complaints handling to credit servicers
EBA published the final Guidelines that extend the existing Joint Committee Guidelines on complaints handling (JC Guidelines) to credit servicers under the new Credit Servicers Directive. When handling complaints from borrowers, credit services are required to apply the same effective and transparent procedures that have been applied for more than a decade to other firms in the banking, insurances and securities sectors.
18/06/2024 - ESAs propose improvements to the sustainable finance disclosure regulation
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) published a joint Opinion on the assessment of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The ESAs call for a coherent, sustainable finance framework that caters for both the green transition and enhanced consumer protection, taking into account the lessons learned from the functioning of the SFDR.
Read the proposed improvements
04/07/2024 - New MiCA rules increase transparency for retail investors
ESMA published the second Final Report under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), covering eight draft technical standards that aim to provide more transparency for retail investors, clarity for providers on the technical aspects of disclosure and record-keeping requirements, and data standards to facilitate supervision by National Competent Authorities (NCAs).
The final report published today includes the following draft technical standards:
- sustainability indicators for crypto-asset consensus mechanisms;
- business continuity measures for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs)
- trade transparency
- content and format of order books and record-keeping by CASPs;
- machine readability of white papers and the register of white papers; and
- public disclosure of inside information
05/07/2024 - ESMA puts forward measures to support corporate sustainability reporting
ESMA published a Final Report on the Guidelines for the Enforcement of Sustainability Information (GLESI) and a Public Statement on the first application of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These documents will support the consistent application and supervision of sustainability reporting requirements.
08/07/2024 - ESMA consults on reporting requirements and governance expectations for some supervised entities
ESMA launched two consultations on proposed guidance for some of its supervised entities. The consultations are aimed at the following entities supervised by ESMA: Benchmark Administrators, Credit Rating Agencies, and three types of Market Transparency Infrastructures (Securitisation Repositories under SECR, Trade Repositories under EMIR/SFTR, and Data Reporting Service Providers under MiFiR).
Read ESMA consultation on reporting
11/07/2024 - ESMA publishes the 2024 ESEF Reporting Manual
ESMA published an update to its Reporting Manual on the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), which supports a harmonised approach for preparing annual financial reports. ESMA has also updated the Annex II of the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on ESEF.
The updated Manual provides technical improvements and guidance to facilitate the analysis and comparison of the data, such as:
- recommendations when tagging empty fields or dash symbols;
- clarifying that extension elements should be anchored to core elements sharing the same data type;
- advising on practices to further improve the readability of the information extracted from a block tag; and,
- encouraging the use of unique identifiers for each tagged fact.
03/06/2024 - Key Aggregate Financial Indicators of the Cyprus Banking Sector for 2024 Q1
04/06/2024 - CIR Statistics May 2024
05/06/2024 - Statistics on Interest Rates applied by Monetary Financial Institutions
07/06/2024 - Aggregate Cyprus banking sector data (reference date 31 March 2024)
13/06/2024 - Bank Lending Survey (BLS)
27/06/2024 - Monetary Financial Institutions (MFIs) Deposits and Loans Statistics
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