Ms. Bruna Szego, Chair of the EU’s Anti-money Laundering Authority (AMLA) visited Cyprus on October 30. The visit took place in the context of Mr Szego’s visits to all Member-States of the European Union with the aim of building an EU AML Community, by strengthening the coordination between ALMA and National Competent Authorities.
During Ms. Szego’s the visit, held at the premises of the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC), Ms. Szego met Cyprus’ joint representative to AMLA’s General Board Mr. Kleanthis Ioannides as well as the CBC’s senior leadership, namely Mr. George Karatzias Executive Board Member and Ms. Pany Karamanou, Head of the Directorate General for Financial Stability and Resolution.
Ms. Szego chaired two round-table 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.
During the meetings, Ms. Szego looked towards the participants to share their perspectives on opportunities and challenges that the new AML approach would bring. Ms. Szego also outlined the short-term and long-term priorities of AMLA, while the meeting covered issues concerning the harmonization of supervision, as well the challenges facing national supervisory authorities.
In a statement, Ms. Szego 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," Ms. Szego said.
On his part, Mr. Kleanthis Ioannides, Cyprus’ representative to AMLA’s General Board, assured Ms. Szego of the commitment of all competent authorities of Cyprus and of the FIU to contribute to the achievement of the objectives set by AMLA.
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 July 1, 2025, based in Frankfurt. Upon becoming fully operational on January 1, 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.