As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, staying informed is essential for maintaining compliance and operational excellence. In the first quarter of 2025, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) issued a series of impactful circulars that reflect the European Union’s broader drive toward transparency, accountability, and sustainable finance.
With this blog post, Christina Andreou, an instructor at the institute, explains the key points and action needed for the CySEC’s 20 circulars issued between January and March 2025. These include key updates on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT), Prudential Supervision, Cross-Border Activity, SFDR, MiFID II, AIFM Law, ESRB, MiCAR, and General Reporting Obligations. Learners are guided through obligations, expectations, and supervisory initiatives relevant to CIFs, Funds, and CASPs.
Towards the end of this blog post, you will find the summary of these 20 Circulars that were issued in the first quarter of 2025. This blog explores the highlights of these regulatory updates and is designed to equip professionals with the practical knowledge needed to navigate these changes confidently.
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT)
- C679: EBA launched a public consultation on RTS amending Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1108, introducing criteria for appointing a Central Contact Point (CCP) for CASPs in host Member States. CASPs must comply with local AML rules even without a branch.
- C685: CySEC issued guidance following thematic inspections on sanctions screening. Identified deficiencies included poor system tuning and inadequate QA. The circular provides best practices and expectations for sanctions list screening and real-time monitoring.
- C686: FATF launched a public consultation on complex proliferation financing and sanctions evasion schemes. Regulated entities are encouraged to contribute responses to inform FATF's understanding and recommendations.
- C687: EBA consultation on four draft RTS under AMLA mandates. Covers areas like direct supervision, harmonized risk assessment, customer due diligence (CDD), and enforcement actions. Aims to improve consistency in AML enforcement.
- C695: Workshop by the Council of Europe and the European Commission on leveraging Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to improve compliance with EU sanctions against Russia. Emphasized private sector cooperation.
Prudential Supervision
- C677: Adoption of EBA Guidelines EBA/GL/2024/04 on resubmission of historical data to enhance accuracy in supervisory reporting. CIFs must resubmit erroneous data across reporting periods as needed.
- C689: Adoption of EBA Guidelines on diversity benchmarking (EBA/GL/2023/08). Class 2 CIFs must report gender pay gap and diversity policy data to CySEC. First deadline: 30 April 2025, every 3 years thereafter.
Cross-Border Activity
- C694: Updated questionnaire for CIFs with >50 active retail clients in EEA states. Must report 2024 activity through the ESMA platform. Deadline: 4 April 2025. Inactive clients are excluded from reporting.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) - C683: Summarizes obligations under SFDR, EU Taxonomy, and MiFID II amendments. Emphasizes disclosure requirements, avoidance of greenwashing, and staff training on ESG criteria.
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II)- C680: ESMA CSA launched with CySEC to assess integration of sustainability factors under MiFID II by CIFs. Focus on suitability assessments, product governance, and investor protection.
Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) Law - C678: ESMA guidelines on fund names using ESG terms. Aims to prevent misleading use of terms like 'sustainable' or 'impact'. Applies to UCITS, AIFMs, and sub-threshold AIFMs. Compliance is required by 21 May 2025.
- C688: ESMA CSA on compliance and internal audit functions in Funds. CySEC conducts inspections to ensure adequate staffing, independence, and governance integration in internal control frameworks.
European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) - C684: ESRB pilot data collection on commercial real estate (CRE) sector vulnerabilities. Funds must report real estate exposures and investment policies. Deadline: 28 March 2025.
Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) - C696: Joint EBA & ESMA guidelines on suitability of CASP management and qualifying shareholders. Evaluation includes reputation, experience, and ongoing assessment criteria. Effective 4 February 2025.
General Reporting Obligations - C681: Annual Risk-Based Supervision Framework submission (RBSF-CBR Version 2) for Cyprus branches of Investment Firms. Deadline: 12 March 2025.
- C682: Electronic submission of the Risk-Based Supervision Framework form for CASPs (RBSF-CASP Version 2). Mandatory for CASPs authorized by 31 December 2024. Deadline: 19 March 2025.
- C690: Annual Risk-Based Supervision Framework form (RBSF-ASP Version 8) for ASPs. Deadline: 30 April 2025.
- C691: Quarterly Statistics Report (QST-CIF Version 16) for CIFs. Reference date: 31 March 2025. Deadline: 5 May 2025.
- C692: Quarterly Statistics Report (QST-ASP Version 9) for ASPs. Deadline: 2 May 2025. No extensions are granted.
- C693: Quarterly Statistics Report (QST-MC Version 23) for AIFMs and UCITS. Includes data on UCIs and sub-funds. Deadline: 30 April 2025.
What is the Review of Regulatory Updates and CySEC Circulars Quarter 1, 2025 course and what does it include?
The
Review of Regulatory Updates and CySEC Circulars Quarter 1, 2025 course is designed by
SALVUS Funds and delivered by their Regulatory Compliance Associate, Christina Andreou. This course is suited for professionals working at Cyprus Investment Firms (CIF), Crypto-Asset Services Providers (CASP), and other entities regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Including auditors, lawyers, and risk managers seeking to stay informed and compliant with CySEC's Q1 2025 updates.
The syllabus of the Review of Regulatory Updates and CySEC Circulars Quarter 1, 2025 course includes:
- Circulars
- Acronyms
- Applicable Circulars for CIFs
- Applicable Circulars for Investment Funds
- Applicable Circulars for CASPs
- Circulars C677 – C696
The “Review of Regulatory Updates and CySEC Circulars Quarter 1, 2025” course offers materials in both PDF slides and online video recordings, allowing for flexible, self-paced learning. Enrolled learners can study anytime and anywhere at their convenience.
Upon completion of the course, learners have the opportunity to evaluate their comprehension of the covered material by answering a series of questions reflecting the gained knowledge. Self-assessment quizzes are embedded throughout the workshop to reinforce key takeaways and highlight areas requiring further review.
The completion of this course counts towards the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) annual requirements for professionals, and holders of the CySEC Advanced and Basic certifications. Learners earn 1.5 hours of CPD accreditation.
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If you have any questions about Despoina's course or any other questions related to your training requirements, please contact us; we would love to help. From all of us at IforPE, the Institute for Professional Excellence,
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