Cyprus is gaining recognition as an attractive fund domicile with a potential for further significant growth, says Monday Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades, addressing the 3rd International Funds Summit in Limassol. 

 

 

The Minister said that favourable factors as the country’s improved fiscal situation and tax certainty, complement the efforts of the industry and are enabling Cyprus to make strides as a modern and attractive investment fund jurisdiction”. He also focused on the effort made by the industry and the government to improve the legal and administrative framework. 

“This has enabled Cyprus to start gaining recognition as an attractive fund domicile with a potential for further significant growth”, Georgiades said. 

He added that a new bill which will amend and improve the Alternative Investment Funds Law, is at the final stages of legal vetting and expressed hope he will be able to present it for approval by the Council of Ministers in November. As he explained, the new bill proposes the introduction of registered funds not authorized by the Regulator, thus enabling a much faster set – up and marketing. The government, he added, is also proposing the introduction of limited partnerships with legal personality, as alternative investment funds vehicles, offering advantages in terms of versatility and structure. 

At the same time, he noted, the government is working with Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) in formulating legislation which will introduce licensed and regulated Mini-Managers, below the European Directive thresholds, as well as legislation on licensed and regulated administrators. 

He also referred to other future reforms, as the establishment of a new specialized Commercial Court and a major investment in e-justice, the establishment of a new independent and unified supervisory authority for the insurance and pension fund sector and the simplification of licensing procedures for new investment. 

In his speech, chairman of CIFA Angelos Gregoriades said that the industry is expected to support economic growth, with alternative funds to continue to drive the growth of the Cypriot funds industry. 

He noted that the development of the private equity funds sector remains a priority, while another growth area for funds is the creation of financial products, particularly regarding shipping and aviation.

Source: Stockwatch

   

 

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who met President Nicos Anastasiades late Saturday, said he would like to see stronger economic and trade cooperation, noting that Beirut values its relations with Nicosia, which he described as “our closest European neighbour.”

Hariri stressed his support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Cyprus, reiterating his support to UN resolutions and the good offices mission of the UN Secretary-General.

Speaking after the meeting, Hariri thanked the president for Cyprus’s support to the Lebanese Armed Forces and the security sector as a whole.

“My government firmly believes that strengthening state institutions is the only way towards building a strong state free of non-state actors,” he remarked, stressing “the need for stronger economic and trade cooperation.”

Lebanon today is providing a global public service on behalf of the international community by hosting around 1.5 million Syrian displaced persons. These displaced fled the Assad regime in search of safety.

“We have a moral and humanitarian obligation towards them. However, this is putting great strain on our economy and infrastructure and therefore we need our friends and the international community to support the stability of our economy and the government plan to start growth. Here I am confident that Cyprus as a long standing friend of Lebanon and member of the EU will play an important role,” he said.

Hariri thanked the president for Cyprus’s symbolic contribution to UNIFIL, noting that this was Cyprus’ only involvement in a UN peacekeeping mission. This, he added, reaffirmed Cyprus’ conviction that Lebanon’s stability was important to its own.

“I stressed to President Lebanon’s commitment to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus. We have repeatedly called for the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions and supported the United Nations good offices in this regard and encourage it to intensify its efforts to reach a peaceful solution which will guarantee the rights of all. The President expressed to me his commitment to resuming the talks to resolve this issue,” Hariri said.

Anastasiades said that Cyprus and Lebanon were much more than close neighbours in the Eastern Mediterranean, noting that the history and strong bonds between the two countries and their peoples follows the trail of the Phoenician civilisation, and has endured through time and adversity.

“Our relations have grown closer and stronger throughout our long history, precisely because they are anchored on a shared value base and a deep-rooted respect for one another,” he added.

Source:CyprusMail

Bank of Cyprus, the island’s largest lender, said it obtained approval to set up an asset management company

The new subsidiary, under the name BoC Asset Management Ltd and fully owned by the bank, already received the approval of the European Central Bank and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the lender said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

“BOCAM will offer a wide range of investment products and services to private and institutional investors,” said the bank. “It will mainly assist as manager and custodian of mutual funds that will cover existing and future investment needs of customers in Cyprus”.

In addition, BOCAM will assist in managing alternative investment funds, advising in institutional investor management and providing fund hosting services, the bank said.

Source: CyprusMail

It may be small and narrow, but that doesn't mean your stairway can't get the

same decorating treatment as the rest of your house. These staircase decorating

ideas will give your entryway a step up.

 

Vintage Venture

 

Pattern All Over

 

Stair Runner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: CountryLiving 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cooperative Cyprus Bank (CCB) is exploring “more radical solutions” in a bid to achieve a swifter reduction of the non-performing loans (NPLs) weighing on its balance sheet, the CCB’s Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Hadjiyiannis said in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

Hadjiyiannis acknowledged that the tool of loan restructurings alone, given the time necessary for a restructured NPL to return to the performing loan book as well as the CCB’s mainly retail loan portfolio, is not enough and so the bank is considering other solutions.

“Given the process to declassify a non- performing loan, the tool of loan restructurings alone is not enough. We need to manage these loans that are in deep arrears and to find more radical solutions,” he said.

The CCB’s NPLs by end-June 2017 amounted to €7.17 billion, accounting for 59 per cent of its total loan book.

“We are moving towards implementing all available tools, utilising the provisions of the banks, as Cypriot banks have accumulated significant provisions to deal with the essence of the problem,” he added.

Hadjiyiannis said the Cypriot banks have submitted their NPL reduction strategies to the European Central Bank, adding these plans include “a radical reduction in absolute numbers.”

“Therefore… the coming short to medium term period will have a catalytic importance for the solution of the problem,” he said.

Hadjiyiannis said the Cooperative Sector lost time in reducing its massive non-performing loan book, due to the merger of the 93 separate credit institutions in to a single entity. The merger was part of the preconditions for the injection of €1.67 billion of bailout money to plug its capital shortfall paid by the government in 2014.

Commenting on the decline of loan restructurings in the first half of 2017, Hadjiyiannis said the bank was faced with increased work load due to the legal merger that has been concluded in early 2017.

However, he added that the bar has been set high for the whole of the year both concerning loan restructurings and NPL reduction.

“We aim at achieving some hundreds of millions in NPL reduction, using all the weapons at our disposal, write offs, debt to asset swaps, full repayments, write downs, (the reduction of a loan’s book value without exonerating the borrower from the debt),” he added.

Asked why the CCB has failed to engage in debt to asset swaps (DBAs) so far, Hadjiyiannis said the bank was building the necessary infrastructure and a specialised unit to deal with such assets.

But he said the bank “is careful not to transfer the problem from one part of the balance sheet to the other.”

By assuming real estate, you reduce the NPLs ratio but you also assume risks related with the real estate market and on how you will dispose of these assets, he said.

He also noted DBAs are more complex and more lengthy due to the banks loan book which mostly concerns retail loans.

According to a report, the CCB has produced an ambitious strategy for the next five years, including reducing NPLs by 2.7 billion, writing off 2 billion of loans and raising coverage ratio to 67% from 47% in end-June 2017.

“These targets are absolutely compatible with what needs to be done. It is not acceptable nor financially sound the banks to carry these weights on their balance sheet in the next five years,” Hadjiyiannis said and added: Therefore, we need to find solutions so that the (NPL) rate declines to a certain point, or to vanish all together, we say we should to reduce it to a level acceptable by European standards.”

The CCB CEO said the deal reached with Spanish asset management firm, Altamira, will help to achieve these targets. The agreement concerns the management of the CCB’s total non- performing loan book as well as real estate amounting €500 million.

“We believe that Altamira has the experience, the expertise and will provide the strategic management of this large part of our balance sheet and will be able to utilise all solutions necessary to bring about this reduction (in NPLs),” he said.

On the planned capital raise, Hadjiyiannis said this will allow the state-owned bank to return to the private sector, noting that the capital raise is envisaged in the agenda 2022.

“Our targets will be rendered more doable with the capital raise in 2018 and will strengthen our balance sheet,” he said.

Asked whether the Cypriot banks will be called on to raise capital in 2018 given the increased regulatory requirements concerning risk management, Hadjiyiannis said raising capital is up to the banks policies and also market conditions.

But he pointed out that maintaining high levels of NPLs requires increased capital buffers.

“Surely as long as we have the problem of high NPLs we will see these buffers, be they capital or accumulated provisions, to rise constantly,” he concluded.

Source:CyprusMail

Police are urging the public not to answer missed calls to their mobiles made from unknown overseas numbers.

Since Wednesday noon, some 350,000 such calls were placed to Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) mobile subscribers, with the organisation busy blocking several foreign numbers.

The calls are made late at night – starting from around midnight up to 3 am – and the callers hang up as soon as the person on the other end answers.

If a person gets a missed call and calls back, they will be charged an international rate. Victims usually hear a pre-recorded message lasting a few seconds.

“It’s been the most massive scam call cluster to date,” said Cyta spokesman Lefteris Christou.

He explained that the scammers, such as call-handling companies, make their money from the termination rates.

Under their contracts with local telecom companies in a given country, these outfits are paid a certain amount each month depending on the number of calls received – and thus terminated.

So far the suspect numbers identified and blocked feature the codes +213 (Algeria), +242 (Congo), +372(Estonia), +387(Bosnia-Herzegovina), +674 (Nauru), +960 (Maldives), and +881(Globalstar (Mobile Satellite Service).

However both Cyta and authorities are advising the public to be alert, as the scammers keep calling from new numbers.

Affected subscribers can report incidents to the police cybercrime unit at 22607250 or 22808200, the Citizen Helpline at 1460, or contact their telecom provider.

Cyta subscribers may call 132, toll-free.

Source:CyprusMail

The tallest building in Nicosia, the “360”, will be erected on Makarious Avenue, giving new impetus to the capital city with a cost of €80 million. The creators of the project are focusing on its uniqueness, stressing that besides a great development project, it will also be a city attraction.

 

The building will include 34 floors and apart from apartments it will include restaurants, a gym, shops and a swimming pool. On the 34th floor there will be a restaurant with incredible views, while a bar will be created on the mezzanine, surrounded by glass, offering 360 degrees of view. From the 34 storey building, there will be an unobstructed view of Nicosia

The apartments will not only have a great view, they will also be very high tech. All the devices will be handled through mobile phones or ipads. The cheapest apartment is a single unit and costs about €282,000 while the most expensive one is a triple and costs €1,627,000. A large percentage of the building has in fact been sold and there is a lot of interest both from Cypriots and from foreigners.

The building should be completed in the beginning of 2019, while the foundation stone will be laid on the 27th October in the presence of the President of the Republic.

 

Source: CyprusBeat

The government does not directly receive any cash from the citizenship-through-investment scheme, the finance minister said on Monday.

 

“The state does not collect a single euro. The benefit is an indirect one, and has to do with invigorating the economy through a series of investments in various sectors,” Harris Georgiades told MPs.

The passport scheme is a “useful tool” and the government intends to keep it in place, the minister said, amid reports that the European Commission was none too happy with Cyprus ‘giving away’ passports.

Georgiades said reports that 1100 passports had been issued via the programme since it was introduced four years ago were misleading.

Whereas the scheme does inject much-needed cash into the economy, he added, one should not overestimate its impact.

The citizenship programme brought in €3.3 billion in foreign investment by the end of 2016.

A parallel scheme providing a permanent residence permit to those buying homes worth €300,000 yielded an additional €700 million over the same period, bringing the overall total to €4 billion.

But Georgiades noted it was important to make the distinction that this cash does not end up in state coffers.

The only benefit to the state comes indirectly, from property transfer fees and VAT.

Asked whether the government is considering revising the scheme – following pressure from the EU and IMF – Georgiades said they saw no need for tightening up the eligibility criteria.

Any changes would probably involve tweaks to how the programme is promoted and advertised, he said.

It’s understood, for example, that certain Cypriot agents advertise the scheme abroad in countries which do not even allow dual citizenship. This has created bad optics for the government.

The issue regained traction after the Guardian ran a story in September criticising Cyprus for granting citizenship to billionaire Russian oligarchs and members of the Ukrainian elite.

Trailing the Guardian report, a European Commission spokesman said that conditions for obtaining citizenship are set by national law but ‘are subject to due respect of EU law’.

Cypriot officials argue that the investment-for-passport scheme here is in fact stricter than elsewhere.

The investment needed for citizenship in Cyprus is for €2 million if the investment is made solely in residential real estate, at least a quarter of which must be spent on a residence for life. If not, the threshold is €2.5 million, at least €500,000 of which must be spent on a permanent residence.

In both cases, the requirement of a permanent residence ensures the investor remains closely engaged with Cyprus even if not actually obliged to live on the island.

The initial requirement for a €2 million overall investment in real estate applies for three years, after which the naturalised person may divest of the investment. However, they must keep their residence in Cyprus for life.

By comparison, under Malta’s scheme, €350,000 must be spent on a residence, and it need only be held for five years.

Source: CyprusMail

Sting and Trudie Styler have their penthouse in one of Manhattan's most prestigious buildings, and they stand to make fields of gold on the sale.

The British musician and his actress and producer wife were among the first buyers at 15 Central Park West when they paid about $27 million for a duplex penthouse in 2008. After listing it for more than twice what they paid—$56 million—the couple has sold it to a "mystery buyer" for $50 million.

Once you see the stunning photos of the 5,417-square-foot property, the price doesn't seem quite as outrageous. Scroll down for a look inside the listing shared by Sotheby's International Realty and Corcoran.

                 

France's Green Cat Technologies has possibly the most head-turning concept at the show with a caravan that folds out into a roomy living space complete with solar and wind power generation. The sCarabane even rotates 360 degrees at camp, tracking the sun to generate electricity and hot water.The sCarabane measures 25.6 x 9.2 x 8.2 ft (7.8 x 2.8 x 2.5 m, L x W x H) when packed up for towing and weighs around 5,500 lb (2,500 kg). What looks quite like a permanent, off-grid tiny home when all set up at camp is actually a folding caravan that packs neatly into a 25.6-ft-long (7.8-m-long) wheeled box via fold-down, flip-up and swing-out hardware on both sides. the scarabane has full-length deck lets occupants enjoy the outdoors, offering enough space for an outdoor dining set and a few lounge chairs. The deck also includes a fold-down mini-bar that's connected to the indoor kitchen. The six-person dining set to the left of the entry transforms into an extra sleeping area, supplementing the 77.5-sq ft (7.2-sq m) master bedroom and 59-sq ft (5.5-sq m) children's bedroom. The dry bathroom with separate toilet, sink and shower compartments is located on the other side of the kitchen.