CySEC Gets a New Chairman: What George Karatzias Brings Back to the Regulator

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission has a new chairman. George Karatzias was confirmed for a five-year term this week, returning to the regulator a little over two years after he left it to become an executive director at the Central Bank of Cyprus. Cyprus’s Cabinet approved the appointment alongside Loukas Lagoudis as vice-chairman and Andrea Moundi Savvides as a board member.

Karatzias is not new to the job. He served as CySEC vice-chairman from September 2021 until May 2024, giving him direct experience with the regulator’s supervisory work before stepping into the top seat, and he replaces George Theocharides, who had led CySEC since September 2021.

Why this matters beyond Cyprus

CySEC licences a large share of the forex and CFD brokers that traders outside the EU use day to day, including names like XM and Exness reviewed regularly on this site. A change at the top rarely shifts policy overnight, but a returning vice-chairman taking the chairman’s role generally signals continuity in how the regulator approaches licensing and enforcement rather than a sharp change in direction.

That continuity matters to brokers currently going through licence applications or renewals, and to traders who rely on CySEC regulation as a baseline signal of legitimacy when comparing brokers. A settled, experienced leadership team at the regulator is, on balance, the boring outcome the industry generally prefers over a disruptive one.

Worth watching over the coming months: whether Karatzias’s return brings any change in enforcement pace, particularly around marketing compliance and bonus promotions, an area CySEC has scrutinized more heavily across the last two regulatory cycles.

Trader’s takeaway: a CySEC licence is a genuinely useful trust signal when you’re comparing brokers, but it isn’t a substitute for checking a broker’s actual entry on CySEC’s own public register before depositing. Broker marketing sometimes overstates what a licence covers, and a quick register check takes less time than reading this article.

Further reading: Cyprus Mail’s report on the CySEC reshuffle and the Financial Mirror’s coverage of Karatzias’s appointment.