The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) appointed Dr George Theocharides as the new Chairman of the regulator on Wednesday after a decision by the Council of Ministers. He succeeded Demetra Kalogerou as her tenure as the regulatory head came to an end.

Along with the new Chairman, the regulator appointed George Karatzias as the new Vice-Chairman.

A Strong Financial Background

Dr Theocharides has been associated with the Cypriot regulator for years. He was previously the Vice-Chairman at CySEC from July 2020 and was one of its Board members before that.

He has a strong financial background with a long academic career. Before joining CySEC, he was an Associate Professor of Finance at the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and a Director of the MSc in its Financial Services Programme from September 2010 until July 2020.

Before that, he worked as an Assistant Professor of Finance at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. There, he taught finance from 2006 until 2010. In addition, he was an International Faculty Fellow at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

His industry experience also includes his tenure as a member of the Bank of Cyprus Interim Board and Board Chairman of Cyprus Blockchain Technologies Ltd.

Commenting on the recent appointment, Dr Theocharides said: “My goal is to ensure that CySEC continues to act as a protective shield for investors, but also leads the way for the sector’s healthy growth. Financial technologies are developing at a rapid pace, and I will work towards preserving the high standards set by CySEC over the previous years, while also ensuring it can be flexible and effective in facing the challenges that lie ahead.”

He has taken over as the regulatory head when more and more financial services firms are flocking towards the island, targeting the wider European markets. Furthermore, CySEC is focusing on attracting crypto companies that could make it one of the top crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

“I am also looking forward to building on the constructive cooperation with my counterparts from other supervisory authorities abroad, ensuring that Cyprus is able to contribute positively to the expansion and strengthening of regulatory practices and procedures across Europe and beyond,” Dr Theocharides stated.