Dr. George Theocharides, Chairman of Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), presented the Commission’s 2025 review and strategic priorities during a press conference today.

In 2025, CySEC conducted approximately 600 on-site and off-site inspections of Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs), as well as extensive reviews of asset managers, collective investment entities, issuers, and market infrastructures. Supervision focused on professional conduct, sustainability risks, data quality, capital adequacy, and compliance with MiFID II, DORA, and MiCA, as well as emerging challenges such as the promotion of investment products by influencers (finfluencers).

As a result of these supervisory actions, administrative fines and settlements totalling approximately €2.3 million were imposed in 2025, bringing the total for the past three years to €7.3 million.

In addition, corrective actions were requested in over 170 cases, licenses were suspended or revoked, and trading of certain securities on the Cyprus Stock Exchange was halted.

Cases were also referred to the Attorney General, MOKAS, and the police, while CySEC actively participates in the preparation of the new European AML Authority (AMLA) and in implementing the new national sanctions framework through the National Sanctions Implementation Unit.

At the same time, CySEC issued dozens of warnings to alert the investing public regarding unauthorized online entities and strengthened awareness campaigns to protect citizens from digital fraud.

Despite the challenging economic environment, 47 new licenses were approved in 2025, bringing the total number of supervised entities to 808. Assets under management in collective investment schemes reached €11.4 billion, a significant portion of which was invested in the Cypriot economy.

CySEC also accelerated its digital transformation, investing in new IT systems, data analytics tools, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, with a substantial enhancement of human resources planned for 2026.

Financial literacy remained a central pillar of CySEC’s work, with campaigns in schools, universities, and digital media, participation in international initiatives, and the development of new educational material to promote safe navigation in the digital financial environment.