Dr George Theocharides is the Chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). He is also the Chairman of the Risk Standing Committee (RSC). The RSC is part of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the successor of the Committee for Economic and Markets Analysis (CEMA), for which Dr. Theocharides served also as Chairman, between March and December 2022.

He served as CySEC’s Vice Chairman from July 2020 to September 2021 and was previously a CySEC Board member. He has extensive experience working in the wider financial sector. From September 2010 until July 2020, he held the position of Associate Finance Professor at the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and Director of the MSc in Financial Services Programme.

Prior to joining CIIM, he worked as an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Sungkyunkwan University of South Korea from 2006 to 2010. In 2006, he also worked as an International Faculty Fellow at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In the past, he served as a member of the Interim Board of Bank of Cyprus, Chairman of the Board of the Cyprus Blockchain Technologies Ltd, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus-Kuwait Business Association.

He also served as a member of the Training/HR Committee of the Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA), Chairman of the Board of Management of The English School, as well as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors for a number of organisations and companies in the financial services sector. He is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and a Research Associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UCL CBT). Dr. Theocharides holds a degree of BΕng (Hons) in Electrical Engineering & Electronics from the University of Manchester (U.M.I.S.T.), an MBA from the University of San Diego and a PhD in Finance from the University of Arizona.

Nassos Paltayian, Head of Compliance, Risk & Information Security, Abacus Limited

Nassos is a prominent compliance professional, recognised for his expertise in anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and sanctions compliance. He currently serves as Head of Compliance, Risk and Information Security at Abacus Limited. A Fellow Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) and a Certified Risk Management Specialist in Russian Sanctions, he brings two decades of experience across regulatory compliance, risk management, assurance and information security.

Nassos is a founding member and Chairman of the ACAMS Cyprus Chapter and was part of the team leading the national AML risk assessment in collaboration with the Central Bank of Cyprus and the World Bank. He has served as Chairman of ICPAC's AML & Compliance Committee and amongst other regularly advises private organisations on anti financial crime, sanctions and complex compliance frameworks across Europe

Yury Anesyants is the Director of Compliance at Freedom24, where he manages one of the largest compliance divisions in Cyprus. His career in investment firms and financial services spans 25 years, during which he has held a number of director-level and compliance positions, leading Freedom compliance in Europe from 2019.

At Freedom24, Yury heads a directorate comprising seven compliance departments covering AML, sanctions, regulatory compliance, onboarding, transaction monitoring, and reporting. In this role, he drives the vertical integration of compliance into both the local and holding company structures.

Yury also has an academic background. He holds a PhD in Economics from Southern Federal University, specializing in “Finance, Money Circulation and Credit,” and for several years headed the Department of Securities Markets at the University

Gregory Dellas is the Group Chief Compliance and Risk Officer at ECOMMBX and a recognized leader in financial crime prevention and risk management.

With a career spanning over three decades in banking and financial services, Gregory has held a series of senior leadership roles. At the Bank of Cyprus, he served as Director Wealth & Markets and led the AML Risk Management team within International Banking Services, overseeing high-risk clients and transactions while providing strategic guidance and specialized training to management and staff. Prior to that, he was Group MLRO for a major Cypriot bank and held other senior management positions.

In 2015, Gregory founded the ACAMS Cyprus Chapter and is currently the Honorary Chair. He previously served for 11 years as Chair, driving the Chapter’s growth into one of the most active and respected professional communities in the region. He also serves as Vice-President of the Association of Cyprus Electronic Money and Payment Institutions (ACEMPI).

Gregory is an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a Fellow of the International Compliance Association (FICA), a long-standing member of the AMLP Forum and AGRC, and a certified CAMS Instructor and GCI-accredited trainer. His credentials include CAMS (Advanced) – Risk, CAMS (Advanced) – Audit, and CGSS, reflecting his deep expertise across the spectrum of AML/CFT and sanctions compliance.

Academically, Gregory holds an MBA from Lancaster University and a BSc (Hons) in Industrial Economics from the University of Warwick.

George Apostolides is the Deputy Chief Compliance Officer and Anti Money Laundering Compliance Officer at Eurobank Ltd. George has extensive experience around Banking for Anti Money Laundering and combating Terrorism Financing, Implementation of Financial Sanction Programs and Regulatory Compliance.

He holds the professional qualification of a Charter Accountant (ICAEW) as well as specialized certifications around Compliance. He is currently the Vice Chair of the ACAMS Cyprus Chapter and has extensive interactions with Regulators as well as the Private sector for the effective application of AML/CFT/Financial Sanctions requirements.

Prior to his career as a Compliance Officer, George was involved in the area of Audit and Assurance holding a senior position in the Internal Audit Department of Eurobank Cyprus and as a External Auditor for a Big4 firm. 

Andrea Moundi Savvides is a lawyer and an international governance, risk and compliance leader with extensive experience advising boards, senior executives and regulated businesses across multiple jurisdictions.

Andrea is the Chair and Founding Member of the Cyprus Compliance Association and serves on the AML & Sanctions and Anti-Corruption Committees of the Cyprus Bar Association. She also represents Cyprus in international standard-setting initiatives through the ISO Anti-Money Laundering drafting committee.

She previously served as Global Director of Risk & Compliance at Harneys, where she led the firm's global compliance function across ten jurisdictions. Her areas of expertise include corporate governance, financial crime, AML/CFT, sanctions, regulatory strategy and AI governance. 

Niki Charilaou is Manager of the Financial Crime & Sanctions Compliance Department and designated AMLRO at Bank of Cyprus. With over a decade leading the Bank’s financial crime function, she has played a key role in strengthening and transforming the Bank’s AML/CTF and sanctions compliance framework.

Niki has extensive expertise in anti-money laundering, sanctions compliance, financial crime risk management, regulatory change implementation and engagement with supervisory authorities and FIUs.

She is an active contributor to the wider financial crime community through her involvement in the Cyprus Public-Private Partnership on Financial Crime, the ACAMS Cyprus Chapter and the EBA Technical Expert Group on targeted financial sanctions. A regular speaker at international compliance conferences, she holds the ACA, CAMS and CGSS professional qualifications.

Maria Kyrmizi Antoniou is a lawyer - Senior Counsel of the Republic of Cyprus at the Attorney General’s Office and for the last 3 years the Head of the Cyprus Financial Intelligence Unit - FIU Cyprus – MOKAS.

She has a long-standing experience in criminal Asset Recovery, freezing and confiscating illegal proceeds and a leading role in the drafting of the relevant domestic legislation.

She represented Cyprus as an expert in the area of Asset Recovery, during the deliberations before the EU Council of the 2014 Freezing and Confiscation Directive, the 2018 EU Regulation for Mutual Recognition of Freezing and Confiscation Orders as well as the 2024 EU Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation. Also, she participates in the Committee of experts on Criminal Asset Recovery of the Council of Europe.

Currently, she is the Head of the Cyprus Delegation to the Moneyval Committee of the Council of Europe, on the evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, where she also participated as a legal evaluator and Rapporteur during Moneyval Evaluations.

In her capacity as the Head of the FIU, strongly supports initiatives of Public Private Partnership, concluding of strategic analysis Reports and technology enhancements, in order to address the continuously evolving methods of ML and the newly emerging threats.

Christoforos Soutzis joined Capital.com in November 2016, bringing over a decade of experience across the insurance and financial sectors.

He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Leeds and an MSc in Actuarial Science from City, University of London.

Christoforos began his career as an Actuary in reinsurance broking before moving into the brokerage sector, where he progressed from Junior Dealer to Risk Manager. Since joining Capital.com, he has held several key leadership positions — first as Head of Risk, then Chief Risk Officer, and later Head of Operations.

Today, as CEO for Europe, Christoforos oversees all strategic initiatives and drives the company’s continued growth and expansion across the region.

Vanessa is a Sales Director within LSEG’s Risk Intelligence Division, bringing deep expertise in AML/CFT over the last 12 years and in delivering technology solutions that seamlessly connect innovation with regulatory demands.

She is currently leading the development of a high‑performing team of Proposition Specialists across EMEA, with a strategic focus on empowering FinTechs to scale responsibly and with resilience.

Tom Golding is Chief Operating Officer for Risk Intelligence Division at LSEG and a senior leader with more than 20 years' experience in the financial crime, KYC and compliance technology market. Having held leadership roles at LSEG, Thomson Reuters, Accuity and Complinet, he has helped shape some of the industry's most widely used financial crime and due diligence solutions, including the launch of World-Check One. Tom is a recognised speaker on financial crime risk, sanctions, KYC, regulatory change and the use of AI in compliance, bringing a unique perspective gained from working with leading financial institutions and compliance teams globally.

Georgia Anastasiou Themistocleous joined the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in 1998 and is currently Deputy Economic Director and Head of the National Sanctions Implementation Unit (NSIU), a position she has held since the Unit's establishment in July 2025.

For the past four years, her work has centered on restrictive measures and sanctions. She coordinated the establishment of Cyprus's first dedicated national competent authority for EU sanctions implementation and has led its subsequent development. She represents Cyprus at the European Commission's High-Level Meetings on Union Restrictive Measures and at the Sanctions Coordination Forums in Brussels, held twice a year since 2022.

She chairs the Advisory Committee on Economic Sanctions to the NSIU and has driven closer cooperation on sanctions matters domestically, with Cypriot supervisory and competent authorities, and internationally, including through participation in an EU TSI project on cross-border information exchange and bilateral engagement with the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

Earlier in her career, she spent a decade working on financial sector policy at the MoF, including financial stability, financial literacy, and transposition of the EU financial services acquis, and served as an Alternate Member of the Financial Services Committee (FSC) of the Council of the European Union.

She has participated in numerous seminars and conferences on illicit finance and sanctions, including the International Training Course on UN Sanctions at the Geneva Graduate Institute and the executive programme "Making Sanctions Work: Political, Legal, and Economic Challenges of EU Restrictive Measures" at the Florence School of Transnational Governance (European University Institute).

Ms. Themistocleous holds a BSc in Business Finance and Economics from the University of East Anglia (UK) and a Master's degree in Public Sector Management from the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM), where she received the Director's Prize for her final project on improving the business environment for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cyprus.

Vishal is responsible for the performance of the Risk Intelligence Business in EMEA, encompassing Screening, Due Diligences, Trusted Payments and Fraud and Identity Solutions. The Risk Intelligence business provides a suite of solutions to help navigate risks, avoid reputational damage, reduce fraud and ensure legal and regulatory compliance around the globe.

Vishal was previously at SAS Middle East, helping the banking sector adopt technology in the field of  Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Management, Regulatory compliance, Fraud and Financial Crime, E-Fx, Customer Analytics, Information Management and Business Intelligence.

Vishal has an established reputation of bringing his domain expertise combined with tech background to solve customer’s business challenges Vishal is a Software Engineer & holds an MBA in Marketing with special interest in Tech start-ups in the field of Artificial intelligence, Big Data and Machine Learning. 

Stelios Georgakis, Director General, Central Bank of Cyprus Stelios joined the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) in 1992, after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in the UK. He has held various positions in the Accounting, Payments, Licensing and Regulatory Compliance, On-Site Inspections, AML/CFT supervision and the prudential supervision of credit, payment and e-money institutions.

He was previously the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) member of the EBA Board of Supervisors and alternate member of the Supervisory Board of the SSM. As of April 2024, he is Director General Payments, a role which encompasses the prudential supervision of EMIs & PIs, the operation, policy and oversight of payment systems, and the introduction of the digital euro. As such, he is the member of the Digital Euro High Level Task Force and the Appia Steering Group for the CBC.

Stelios also holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and an MBA.

Dr Charalambos Menelaou holds a PhD in Computer Engineering and has extensive experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data-driven modelling, optimisation, and advanced analytical systems. Charalambos currently works at Bank of Cyprus in Model Risk Management, focusing on the independent validation and governance of mathematical, analytical, and AI-based models.

He has also been appointed as an AI expert to the European Commission’s Scientific Panel of Independent Experts on Artificial Intelligence, established under Article 68 of the EU AI Act. Through this role, he contributes specialist knowledge to discussions concerning advanced AI systems, systemic risks, regulatory oversight, responsible AI development, and the effective implementation of the EU’s evolving artificial intelligence regulatory framework.

His multidisciplinary experience across academia, financial services, and European AI governance enables him to contribute meaningfully to responsible AI, model governance, regulatory compliance, and the trustworthy deployment of intelligent systems.

Kallinicos Chiras is currently the Chief Compliance Officer at Alpha Bank Cyprus.

He is a Senior Compliance Executive with over 20 years of experience in the banking sector, leading Regulatory Compliance and AML/CFT functions.

With a proven track record in building strong compliance frameworks, managing regulatory relationships with the ECB and Central Bank of Cyprus, driving remediation and transformation programs, and reporting to Boards and Audit Committees.

Kallinicos is committed to a culture of integrity, risk awareness and customer protection.

Arion Petasis is the CEO and co-founder of pentir.AI an AI powered regulatory intelligence platform.

He has been active in the Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) space for 25 years having worked for the Promontory Financial Group, Booz Allen and PwC in almost 30 countries in EMEA and North America.

He is also the CEO of Coenobium Advisors, a GRC consulting firm and host of the RiskMatters podcast which covers technology, banking, and global affairs.