Cyprus officials warn of AI bias and climate risks as central bank fines Banque SBA Cyprus

Nicosia, Cyprus. Gender Equality Commissioner Josie Christodoulou warned that artificial intelligence is reproducing human biases, while Fiscal Council chairman Andreas Charalambous highlighted climate-related risks to public debt during discussions at the Cyprus Forum. Separately, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) imposed a €750,000 fine on Banque SBA Cyprus over failures to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements.

AI bias and women’s participation

Christodoulou said AI is already reproducing human biases and gender stereotypes, making women’s participation in the design and development of technology increasingly important.

“We start by confirming that indeed AI is biased,” she said during the fireside discussion “AI and Equal Participation: Who Shapes the Digital State?”, referring to the data used to train AI systems and the people involved in creating them.

She explained that AI models do not develop their assumptions in isolation but learn from existing material that may already contain deeply rooted social stereotypes.

The discussion was chaired by Andreas Demetriou, founding member and Legal Advisor of AI³, and Rodoula Papalambrianou, Scientific Coordinator at Hope For Children CRC Policy Center.

Central Bank imposes €750,000 fine

The CBC imposed the fine on Banque SBA Cyprus following compliance failures identified during an inspection in 2023.

The decision was taken on September 29 as part of the CBC’s supervisory responsibilities under Cyprus’ legislation on the prevention and suppression of money laundering activities.

According to the Central Bank, the inspection found that the bank had failed to comply with specific provisions of the relevant law and the CBC directive to credit institutions on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.

The CBC said section 59(6) of the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities Law of 2007, as subsequently amended, allows it to impose measures when a supervised entity fails to comply with Part VIII of the legislation or related Central Bank directives.

Climate change risks to public finances

Charalambous warned that Cyprus’ slow response to climate change and delays in the energy transition could pose a growing risk to the sustainability of public debt. He pointed to shortcomings in energy storage, infrastructure and environmental policy.

Speaking during a discussion at the Cyprus Forum, he said the Fiscal Council had placed significant emphasis on the economic consequences of climate change in its recently published 2026 interim report, treating the issue as a potential risk to the sustainability of public finances.