PANAMA PAPERS AND PROFESSIONAL SECRECY
The leak of 11.5 million confidential documents of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed how rich and powerful people use tax havens to hide their wealth. Particularly, these papers, also known as Panama Papers, demonstrate how Mossack Fonseca assisted its clients to avoid tax, dodge sanctions and launder money. Mossack Fonseca is one of the largest law firms in Panama and operates...
CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION IN CYPRUS
Confidentiality and data protection are two vital issues in almost all business, social and employment matters. Specifically, data protection is an emerging topic that public and private organisations need to address carefully and develop the necessary policies in order to protect sensitive information when they perform their daily operations and also when they try to establish new business...
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT IN CYPRUS
The Employment Law (100(1)/2000) in Cyprus includes both statute and case law. Specifically, Cyprus statute law contains issues related to the termination of employment, paid leave, annual social insurance, maternity leave, equal treatment at work e.t.c. The Labour Disputes Courts deals with issues related to the rights of employees and employers.
The Employment Law applies to every employee...
WILLS AS AN ESTATE PLANNING SOLUTION IN CYPRUS
Estate planning is the process of arranging the disposal of someone’s movable and immovable property after his/her death. Estate planning may eliminate doubts over the administration of estates. Obviously, estate planning is a rather sensitive issue. As a result, many people avoid addressing it. However, it should be taken into account that the documents you prepare regarding your death might...
ACQUISITION OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY IN CYPRUS
The geographical location of Cyprus between Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa together with the well-established legal, banking and accounting infrastructures urge local and foreign business people to invest in immovable property. A considerable advantage of the Cyprus legal system is the protection of ownership without discriminations. That is to say, according to Cyprus Law, Cypriot...
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT FUNDS MANAGERS’: GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
The Alternative Investment Funds Managers’ (AIFMs) Law, 56(I)/ 2013, aligns the Cyprus regulatory framework with various EU regulations on Alternative Investment Managers (AIMs).
Specifically, the Law identifies the following two Alternative Investment Funds Manager:
The AIFMs that internally manage AIFs.
The AIFMs that are appointed as external managers of AIFs.
AIFMs need to be licensed by...
CYPRUS INVESTMENT FIRMS: FOREX
Foreign exchange trading (FOREX) is an innovative type of business that brings together buyers and sellers from all over the world regardless of time and place. In other words, sellers and buyers conduct foreign exchange transactions immediately. Cyprus is considered to be an attractive location for the FOREX market. The attractive regulatory and taxation schemes together with the low...
DOMAIN NAMES REGULATIONS
A domain name is an identification string defined by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System (DNS). It should be pointed out that a domain name is assigned for exclusive use in one legal or natural person. Specifically, a domain name represents an Internet Protocol resource, such as a website. Domain name can be described as a location where specific information and activities can...
ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES IN CYPRUS
Estate denotes the movable and immovable property someone processes during his/her lifetime. As a result, estate administration is strongly related to all the procedures of gathering and distributing assets and debts of the decesead to his/her beneficiaries. In Cyprus, all matters related to administration of estates are regulated by the Administration of Estates Law (Cap. 189) and the...
Offshore Banking
Banking is one of the most important sectors of the world economy as it influences investment, consumption and other business activities. Furthermore, banking has a substantial impact on the circulation of money and thus influences economic growth. Offshore banking provides a unique opportunity to individuals, business people and companies to access the international market and implement their...