The Chair of the EU’s Anti-money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Bruna Szego, visited Cyprus on 30 October, in the context of her visits to all European Union Member States with the aim of building an EU AML Community, by strengthening the coordination between ALMA and National Competent Authorities.
According to a statement by the Central Bank of Cyprus, during her visit at the CBC premises, Szego met Cyprus’ joint representative to AMLA’s General Board, Kleanthis Ioannides, as well as the CBC’s senior leadership, namely Executive Board Member George Karatzias and Pany Karamanou, Head of the Directorate General for Financial Stability and Resolution.
It is added that Szego chaired two roundtable discussions, the first with the attendance of representatives of all National Competent Authorities of the financial and non-financial sector, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and the second with the participation of representatives of associations of obliged entities licensed in Cyprus.
It is noted that during these discussions, Szego invited the participants to share their perspective on opportunities and challenges that the new AML approach would bring. She also outlined the short-term and long-term priorities of AMLA, while at the meeting issues concerning the harmonization of supervision, as well the challenges facing national supervisory authorities were discussed.
According to the CBC, Szego is quoted to have underscored the importance of direct meetings with representatives of the National Competent Authorities of the Member States and the representatives of the associations of obliged entities. "Cooperation and coordination will be crucial for us as a community to succeed in our mission”, she noted.
On his part, Ioannides said that he assured the Authority Chair of the commitment of all competent authorities of Cyprus and of the FIU to contribute to the achievement of the objectives set by AMLA.
It is further noted that AMLA was officially established following the adoption of the legislative package on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing in May 2024, and began its operation on 1 July, 2025, based in Frankfurt.
Upon becoming fully operational on 1 January, 2028, AMLA will assume direct supervision of 40 financial obliged entities, which will be selected in 2027. This selection will be based on objective criteria focused on large cross-border activity and risk categorisation using a methodology AMLA is currently developing.
At the same time, it will exercise indirect supervision over the remaining entities in both the financial and non-financial sectors and will strengthen cooperation with national financial intelligence units, the statement concludes.
(Source: CNA)
