The Chairman of the Cyprus Capital Market Commission (CEC), Dr. George Theocharidis, highlighted during a press conference, the supervisory work of the CEC for 2023.
By 2023, a total of 82 entities were approved, with the number of supervised entities at the end of February 2024 reaching 830.
“Over the last four years, the number of supervised entities has increased by 12% and is an indication that Cyprus continues to gather significant advantages as an investment destination. Based on the latest data available for February, 78 applications are under evaluation for licensing,” he added.
In terms of investor education, CySEC noted that it has issued warnings to the investing public and a specialized social media campaign for individuals and legal entities posing as CySEC executives or representatives, as well as on websites imitating that of CySEC or other supervisors authorities.
Dr. Theocharidis reported that within 2023, the Supervision and AML/CFT Departments conducted over 700 on-site and remote thematic inspections of supervised entities.
During 2023, the evaluation of advertising material in more than 35 CIF promotional communications was also completed and in cases where misleading material was identified, CIFs were advised to make changes to the advertising material to investors.
The Department of Market Supervision and Investigations carried out registrations-investigations in 6 CIFs, completed 42 investigations and another 48 investigations were ongoing at the end of 2023. At the same time, the Department sent a case to the Attorney General of the Republic to determine whether there were possible criminal offenses by companies or individuals.
The President of the Greek Cypriot Cypriot Association stated that one of the most important changes to come towards the end of 2024 is the implementation of the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation, known as MiCA, which concerns cryptocurrency service providers. The MiCA includes, inter alia, provisions aimed at ensuring investor protection and market integrity.
“All supervisory authorities in the European territory, including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, are already preparing for the adoption of these changes, informing both the supervised entities and other stakeholders of the industry in general. It is important that supervised entities prepare for their early adoption by acquiring the appropriate systems or further staffing them with the appropriate human resources to be able to meet the new requirements.” said Dr. Theocharidis.
He also urged investors to be extra cautious when investing in crypto-assets as they involve various risks.