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.

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