The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has published a practical guide on maintaining effective and efficient sanctions screening systems, setting out supervisory expectations and sharing findings from a recent assessment of screening tools used by regulated entities. The guide highlights that, while some best practices were observed, the overall effectiveness and efficiency of sanctions screening systems requires improvement. CySEC’s thematic inspections ran from April to November 2024 and covered Cyprus Investment Firms, Administrative Service Providers, funds and fund managers, and Crypto-Asset Service Providers. The review focused on legal requirements arising from United Nations Security Council sanctions and European Union restrictive measures, including screening against UN and EU sanctions lists to identify designated persons, and also examined screening practices relating to U.S. and UK sanctions lists. The guide aims to provide feedback from the inspections and promote better testing, tuning and optimisation of screening systems, alongside adequate internal policies, procedures and controls.
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission 2025-02-27
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission issues practical guide on sanctions screening systems following 2024 thematic inspections
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) released a guide on enhancing sanctions screening systems, detailing supervisory expectations and findings from recent inspections. The review, conducted from April to November 2024, assessed compliance with UN, EU, U.S., and UK sanctions lists across various regulated entities. The guide emphasizes the need for improved testing, tuning, and optimization of screening systems, as well as robust internal policies and controls.