Euro zone asks for private study of Cyprus anti money laundering steps

BRUSSELS Feb 11 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Monday to order a private study of how Cyprus implements anti-money laundering laws as a condition for a emergency loans for the Mediterranean island, but did not go into any other details of the bailout.

"Tonight where Cyprus is concerned we zoomed in on the issue of anti-money laundering and didn't go into any possible, or not possible, elements of a programme so I can't go into these elements with you," Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the talks, said.

"We agreed that an independent assessment conducted by a private sector firm is required and we requested the Troika and Cyprus to agree on the terms of reference for such an assessment within a week," he said.

The ministers also discussed the euro's exchange rate, but concluded the debate belonged more with the finance ministers and central bankers of the world's 20 biggest developing and developed economies -- the G20 -- later this week in Moscow.