Elias Neocleous & Co

Fabian Cabeza of Elias Neocleous & Co explains what company founders need to be aware of regarding funding when launching start-ups on the ‘Tech Island’

Chrysanthos Christoforou of Elias Neocleous discusses recent cases in which the UK courts have shown great flexibility and willingness to assist victims to trace and freeze their stolen crypto-assets

Ioannis Sidiropoulos of Elias Neocleous & Co LLC and Nicole Phinopoulou of Phinopoulou Legal Practice explain why artificial intelligence’s potential to increase the utilisation of sustainable finance depends on its adoption in the legal world

Xenia Kalogirou of Elias Neocleous & Co discusses the liquidity management tools in collective investment schemes in Cyprus and the EU Commission’s proposals to amend AIFMD and the UCITS Directive

Xenia Kalogirou of Elias Neocleous & Co discusses the inducement rules for fund managers in Cyprus and the impact of restrictions on inducements for asset management

Ioannis Sidiropoulos of Elias Neocleous & Co discusses the key issues for insolvency practitioners to consider when an estate includes crypto assets in Cyprus

Pamela A Evangelou of Elias Neocleous & Co describes how the guidelines on marketing communications under the Cross-Border Distribution Regulation are being implemented in Cyprus

Central bank digital currencies are on the radar of central banks. Xenia Kalogirou of Elias Neocleous & Co discusses the issues they raise and how these are being addressed

Chrysanthos Christoforou of Elias Neocleous & Co outlines how the legislative and judicial departments of Cyprus are working to fight cybercrime

Elena Christodoulou of Elias Neocleous & Co provides an overview of how Cyprus tax resident individuals are taxed in Cyprus

Xenia Kalogirou and Ioannis Sidiropoulos of Elias Neocleous & Co consider how Cyprus is faring amid the accelerated pace of e-commerce development across the globe

Chrysanthos Christoforou of Elias Neocleous & Co explains why Cyprus offers a stable and safe environment for investment

Ioannis Sidiropoulos of Elias Neocleous & Co discusses the initiatives Cyprus is introducing to bring clarity to crypto assets regulation

Michael Pelosi and Ioannis Sidiropoulos of Elias Neocleous & Co explain the provisions of a public statement issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority

Linda Stokes, Michael Pelosi and Diana Golube of Elias Neocleous & Co consider how Cyprus, through technological and legislative advancements, has developed into a potential investment hub for international businesses

Costas Stamatiou and Vassilis Psyrras of Elias Neocleous & Co consider how Cyprus has acted to incentivise ship owners to reduce the adverse environmental impact of their vessels

Lawyers from Elias Neocleous & Co look at the new rules and how the new regime will look for alternative investment fund managers

IFLR briefing firm Elias Neocleous & Co explains what market participants need to know about new tax initiatives in Cyprus

Libor [London interbank offered rate] is the primary benchmark, along with Euribor, for short-term interest rates around the world. Libor rates are calculated for five currencies and seven borrowing periods, ranging from overnight to one year, and are published each business day. Libor is based on submissions provided by a selection of large international panel banks. These submissions are intended to reflect the interest rate at which banks could lend one another unsecured funds. Many financial institutions, mortgage lenders, and credit card agencies set their own rates based on this. However, in 2017, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that after 2021 it would no longer require the panel banks to submit the rates needed to calculate Libor. Libor will no longer be published after the end of 2021, and market participants are urged to transition to alternative reference rates (ARRs).

On January 22 2020 the instrument of ratification of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Matters (MLI), and the Cyprus position on the minimum standards of the MLI and explanatory statement, were published in the Official Gazette of the Republic.

Distressed companies are those facing financial crises not resolvable without a considerable recasting of the firm's operations, structures and finance. This can be brought about through a company's failure to make a substantial payment of principal or interest to a creditor. Distress can also be seen in terms of financial ratios, for example in terms of liquidity and longer-term solvency. The basic and most prevalent forms of corporate distress assessment are the cash flow and the balance sheet tests, which apply both to going concern and break up (insolvency) valuation. In terms of break up valuation, under the cash flow test, a company is insolvent when it is unable to pay its debts as they fall due. Under the balance sheet test, the entity is insolvent if the book value of its assets, as listed on the conventional balance sheet, is less than its reported liabilities. The notions of asset exchangeability/liquidity and time prospect of sale are of great importance, particularly for the balance sheet test, as the latter includes the assessment of assets' value, by definition (UK Insolvency Act, 1986, 123 [2]). In this article, we first present the international/UK insight and, then, the Cyprus position on the matter.

Like most financial engineering techniques, securitisation is not without risk. The complexity inherent in securitisation can impair investors' ability to monitor risk, and competitive securitisation markets are prone to sharp declines in underwriting standards. Furthermore, off-balance sheet accounting treatment for securitisations coupled with guarantees from the issuer can make it challenging to assess exposures, encouraging issuers to take on excessive credit risk. Even the most ardent advocates of securitisation would accept that securitisation played an important role in the US subprime mortgage crisis that led to the global financial crisis of 2008.

The 2013 banking crisis brought to light the serious issue of Cyprus banks carrying on their balance sheets substantial provisions for non-performing loans (NPLs) which adversely affected the banking sector's profitability and sustainability. In response to EU pressure, the government of Cyprus put considerable effort into tackling the problem of NPLs, implementing various measures including improved foreclosure legislation and measures to assist banks to restructure their loan portfolios.

On September 14, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) published its latest analysis of data on non-performing loans in the Cyprus banking sector. The analysis covered the period to May 31 2018, and showed aggregate non-performing facilities and related indicators for the domestic operations of credit institutions operating in Cyprus.