Cyprus Establishes Unit for Sanctions Screening in Financial Sector

The Cypriot government has taken a significant step towards implementing United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions and European Union (EU) restrictive measures by establishing the Unit for the Implementation of Sanctions in the Financial Sector. This unit was set up by the Ministerial Council on February 25, 2016.

Responsibilities

The unit will be responsible for:

• Examining requests related to the financial sector affected by UN sanctions and/or EU restrictive measures
• Submitting recommendations for approval or rejection to a panel of ministers
• Making final decisions collectively or through a majority vote of the Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Energy, Commerce, Industry, and Tourism or their representatives

Composition

The unit will be chaired by Mr. Kyriacos Kakouris, Head of the Directorate of Administration and Finance, and will comprise representatives from:

• Various ministries
• The Central Bank of Cyprus
• The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission

Resources

For more information on existing sanctions regimes SC/UN and relevant sanction committees, visit the UN website at www.un.org/sc/suborg/en/sanctions/information.

For updated versions of restrictive measures (sanctions) by EU regulations, visit http://eeas.europa.eu/cfsp/sanctions/docs/measures_en.pdf.

Contact Information

To submit applications for examination by the unit, please send your request to sanctionsunit@mof.gov.cy. For any inquiries or further information, contact Costas Constantinides at tel: 22601 2633.