05/11/2019 (Agence Europe) – On Monday, 4 November, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades pledged to revoke citizenship “mistakenly” granted within the framework of his controversial citizenship-by-investment programme (see EUROPE 12157/38). According to the Financial Times, Mr Anastasiades acknowledged that mistakes may have been made in granting these ‘golden passports’ under a previous, less strict version of the programme. He stated that there could be 10 to 15 cases in which the criteria were not met and the prior review did not determine that the investors were not eligible for the programme. His statements come after media reports that some beneficiaries, such as Malaysian financier Jho Low, have been involved in money-laundering scandals. The programme offered by Cyprus is closely monitored by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12178/2), which had previously asked the country to strengthen its security checks. (MF)