I started my tenure as chairwoman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in September 2011 at the start of a difficult period for Cyprus as a country. The following year Cyprus held its first presidency of the EU, and then endured an economic crisis that resulted in a €10bn international bailout by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the closure of Cyprus Popular Bank, the resolution of the Bank of Cyprus and the downgrading of the Cypriot government’s bond credit rating to junk status.
Against this inauspicious background, my vision and mission were to create a three- to five-year strategic plan for a regulator in the middle of a crisis. My initial role was to restore confidence in the investment sector, among investors in Cyprus and abroad, and deal with the cases that led to the banking crisis. This resulted in the issuing of €11m in fines for the banking sector and close to €20m in fines and settlements on other supervised entities for other infringements.