In response to recent bad publicity over dirty money in Cyprus, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades argues that anti-money-laundering procedures are stricter than in any other European state, while a campaign to raise international awareness is underway. The comments came after Cyprus was among the top ten worse performers in combating money laundering and terrorism financing

The Justice Ministry is setting in motion the creation of an independent authority to combat corruption.   The ministry has prepared a bill which will see the establishment of a body consisting of a Transparency Commissioner and two assistants which are to be appointed by the President and are to act independently. The development comes

Traffic offenders are to receive their fines through their mailbox via registered mail, once the new speed cameras are up and running at the end of next year. Originally offenders were to be sent their fines via standard mail because it would cost less. However, to ensure there could no excuses for offending motorists to

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Nicosia and Athens that Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s erratic behaviour could see him disrupt their East Med energy plans. “Turkey is becoming undemocratic,” Netanyahu said, according to Israel’s Channel 10 that cited Israeli officials familiar with a September meeting involving Greek and Cypriot diplomats. The Israeli PM

Cyprus is among the top 10 decliners globally in combating money laundering and terrorism financing risks (ML/TF), according to the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index. The Basel AML Index is an independent annual ranking that assesses the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing around the world. Cyprus’ risk-rating score worsened by 0.75 points to

Cypriot police said Wednesday they arrested a 52-year-old foreign resident of Cyprus on a European warrant in connection with fraud and match-fixing in Belgium. The man is wanted by Belgian authorities in relation to alleged cases of counterfeiting, circulating false documents, tax evasion and money laundering, said Cypriot police. The offences were mainly committed in

Four major investment firms are interested in financing the billion-dollar construction of a pipeline to transport Cyprus natural gas to Egypt. This is what a Cypriot official involved in the energy sector has told Bloomberg. The banks and investment houses have asked Nicosia for more information on the progress of the Aphrodite field, whose gas

Schemes run by EU countries like Cyprus offering passports and residency permits to wealthy foreign citizens pose risks of money laundering as some of the programmes are not properly managed, campaign groups argue.  Reuters said government schemes to trade citizenship or residence rights for large investment are currently applied in 13 EU countries: Austria, Cyprus,

Washington spent some $70 mln on a Cyprus air base that was quickly set up and served little clear purpose before it was shut down in 2017 after four years, ABC News reported. It said the base, which was established in September 2013 and closed in August 2017 and hosted five helicopters and approximately 40