The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
("CySEC") has issued a statement drawing the attention of
the businesses it regulates, including Cyprus Investment Firms,
management companies and administrative service providers, to their
obligations under the anti-money laundering legislation regarding
tax offences committed by clients.
CySEC considers that fraudulent tax evasion constitutes a predicate
offence under the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering
and Terrorist Financing Laws of 2007 – 2013 and requires the
entities it regulates to implement adequate and appropriate systems
and processes to discourage, prevent and detect money laundering
arising from serious tax offences.
While regulated entities are not responsible for assessing their
clients' compliance with their worldwide tax obligations they
should nevertheless exercise oversight over whether there are
reasonable grounds to suspect that client accounts contain proceeds
derived from serious tax offences and should immediately
report any concerns.
The full statement is available here on the CySEC website.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.