Bank of Cyprus appeals central bank fine

Bank of Cyprus has appealed a central bank fine in the administrative court. The appeal was announced by the central bank which said that BoC was appealing the €277,000 fine imposed by the regulator over violations of the anti-money laundering law in the period 2008 to 2015.

It said the appeal had been submitted on November 5 and was still in its initial stages.

The fine was announced on October 27. The central bank said at the time that an AML audit at the bank was carried out in 2020.

“In this respect, the CBC, on the basis of findings emanating from the examination conducted during 2020, decided on 20 October 2021 to impose measures in the form of a fine on Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd, amounting to €277,000, for failure to comply with certain provisions of the Law and of the CBC Directive to Credit Institutions for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, April 2008 (Third Edition) and December 2013 (Fourth Edition), during the period 2008 to 2015,” the CBC said, adding that if the fine is paid within a specified time limit, it would be reduced by 15 per cent to €235,450.

Sources from the Bank of Cyprus had said at the time that the bank intended to appeal to the Administrative Court against the fine as well as against the ruling.

The bank also noted that the transactions concerned legacy cases, recalling the work done by the bank in the field of AML with actions such as the termination of over of 10,600 clients’ accounts which correspond to a turnover exceeding €6 billion.