“War” against Cyprus on alleged money laundering must stop

In statements after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Stephanou said that the government of Cyprus has adopted and implements European and international laws against money laundering.

Asked whether the government is willing to accept an inspection by an EU team to ascertain whether there is money laundering activities in Cyprus, Stephanou said that "Cyprus has never refused supervision or evaluation by authorized agencies and their designated committees of international or European organizations”.

He recalled that in the past as well as recently Cyprus was evaluated as regards money laundering activities, adding that in November 2011, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) drafted an assessment report giving Cyprus a good evaluation as regards major anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures.

“Cyprus adopted and implements European and international laws against money laundering” Stephanou stressed.

He pointed out that an International Monetary Fund team visited Cyprus last October in the framework of the negotiations for a Cyprus bailout, making its own assessment on anti money laundering measures, giving Cyprus “a very good score”.

Stephanou added that the IMF team suggested five measures which Cyprus adopted and already passed into law.