About the passing of Beneficial Ownership Act, 2020 ('BOA') in the Seychelles. This Act (together with the Beneficial Ownership Regulations, 2020) came into effect on 28 August 2020, and requires that all International Business Companies (IBCs) must declare their Beneficial Ownership details to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

The aim of this is to establish a secure and centralised Register of Beneficial Owners (RBO) of entities incorporated or registered in the Seychelles.

Please note that this Beneficial Ownership Register will not be made publicly available.

Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis called on possible investors to consider the Cypriot electricity market in view of its liberalisation in July next year, the Cyprus News Agency reports.

"We hope the electricity market will become a new sector of economic activity and we call on investors to seriously consider the opportunities provided by the sector," Lakkotrypis said addressing the opening ceremony of the Save Energy exhibition organised by the Employers and Industrialists Federation.

The Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) has proposed liberalisation of the Cyprus electricity market by July 1, 2019.

As reported in Gold News

Cyprus's economic output increased last year 3.9 per cent compared to 2016, which is the highest since 2008, the statistical service said.

In nominal terms, the economy expanded 5.5 per cent, to €19.2bn, which is almost €1bn higher compared to that of 2016, Cystat said in a statement on its website on Friday.

Cystat also revised the 2016 growth rate from 3 per cent to 3.4 per cent.

As reported in Cyprus Business Mail.

The number of company registrations, an indicator of the performance of the business services sector, rose in February 25 per cent to 1,207 compared to the respective month of 2017, the Department of the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver said.

In the first two months of the year, the number of company registrations went up 19 per cent to 2,405 compared to the respective period last year, the department said.

Applications for company names went up an annual 33 per cent last month to 2,720 and 26 per cent to 5,312 in January to February, it said. The submission of other documents rose 11 per cent to 11,273 and 23 per cent to 26,197 respectively.

Lastly, the number of certified copies issued rose an annual 8.7 per cent to 26,834 last month and 8.1 per cent to 54,930 in the first two months of the year, the department said.

As reported in Cyprus Business Mail.

Strong economic growth - the highest growth rate since 2008 - is credit positive for Cypriot banks Moody's ratings agency said on Thursday, noting however that despite the growth reduction of non-performing exposure will be slow.

According to Moody's, Cyprus' Statistical Service data showing that the country's annual GDP growth rate had accelerated to 3.9 per cent in 2017 from 3.4 per cent in 2016 is positive for the banks because it supports asset values, improves the repayment capacity of a large number of defaulted households and businesses, and provides banks with increased lending opportunities, which will support their declining pre-provision profits.

The pick-up in economic activity strengthens businesses' cashflows and improves labour market conditions for households - unemployment in Cyprus dropped to 9.8 per cent as in January 2018, from 10.3 per cent in December 2017, and 16.7 per cent in January 2015.

As reported in Cyprus Mail.

Energy giant Shell is in talks to purchase $25 billion in natural gas from Israel and Cyprus, a report in Globes said Sunday 11 March. The report quoted sources at Bloomberg, who first reported the story last Thursday.

The report said that Shell was seeking to contract with the two countries for 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Israel's Leviathan and Cyprus' Aphrodite gas fields. According to Bloomberg, all three parties involved are seeking to sign a deal by the end of 2018.

As reported in Gold News.

Israel expects a decision to go ahead with the construction of a 2,000 kilometre pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe to be made by early 2019, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Reuters.

The pipeline, which will cross from Israel and Cyprus into Greece and Italy in deep waters, would mark a major milestone for the rapidly developing gas industry in the Levantine Basin in the east corner of the Mediterranean, offering access to a large market.

The European Union considers the pipeline, estimated to cost $7 billion, as "extremely competitive" as the four partner countries continue construction plans for the technically complex line, Steinitz told Reuters late on Wednesday on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston.

As reported in Cyprus Mail.

The highly important 2nd Working Group Meeting of the Russia-Cyprus Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Development was held in Moscow in the beginning of March. The participation of the Cypriot delegation in the session was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Invest Cyprus and the globally renowned Skolkovo Innovation Centre.

The Working Group was established with the aim of following through with the two countries' Governments' plans to promote closer economic cooperation, particularly in innovative sectors. Head of the Republic of Cyprus delegation was Georgia Christofidou, Director of the General Directorate for European Programmes, Coordination and Development, who highlighted the importance of promoting cooperation between the two countries in a practical way, with the aim of promoting synergies between stakeholders and the creation of opportunities for new investments. The Cypriot delegation consisted of state officials and representatives from the private sector and the academic and research community, officials from the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, members of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Research Promotion Foundation (RPF) and interested companies, under the coordination of Invest Cyprus, which was represented by Kyriacos Kokkinos, member of the Board of Directors. The joint working group was held at the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and was attended by representatives of more than 47 agencies from throughout Russia that operate in the sectors that were discussed.

As reported in Gold News.

Two bids for the development of the port and marina in Larnaca from Israel and China are expected to be submitted by the end of April, Transport Minister Marios Demetriades said on Tuesday.

After meeting the city's mayor Andreas Vyras, Demetriades said he had hoped the development of the port and marina would have happened before his term ended.

He noted that the process is nearing its completion, expressing his belief that with persistence and patience this large project can be implemented.

As reported in Cyprus Mail.

Cyprus registered the lowest annual inflation rate in the EU in January 2018 (-1.5%), followed by Ireland (0.3%) and Greece (0.2%), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Meanwhile, Euro area annual inflation rate was 1.3% in January 2018, down from 1.4% in December 2017. In January 2017, the rate was 1.8%. European Union annual inflation was 1.6% in January 2018, down from 1.7% in December 2017. A year earlier the rate was 1.7%, the Cyprus News Agency reports.

According to Eurostat, the highest annual rates were recorded in Lithuania and Estonia (both 3.6%) and Romania (3.4%). Compared with December 2017, annual inflation fell in twenty-one Member States, remained stable in one and rose in six. In January 2018, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.56 ), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.39), energy (+0.22) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.15).

As reported in Gold News.

Transparency International, the global anti-corruption watchdog, promoted Cyprus to rank 42 in its 2017 Corruption Perception Index from 45 the year before as the island improved its score from 55 to 57.

Cyprus was placed on the same rank with the Czech Republic, Dominica and Spain, just below Latvia and the Caribbean island-state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, beating Georgia and Malta, the Berlin-based non-governmental organisation said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.

More information available from Cyprus Business Mail.

fDi magazine places Nicosia in TOP 10 SMALL EUROPEAN CITIES OF THE FUTURE 2018/19 - HUMANCAPITAL/LIFESTYLE

and Limassol in TOP 10 MICRO EUROPEAN CITIES OF THE FUTURE 2018/19 - HUMANCAPITAL/LIFESTYLE

More information available from fdiintelligence.com

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades commented on February 14 on positive official data released on Cyprus' growth for 2017 noting that they show that "we are on the right track."

"The confirmation for a growth rate of 4% for 2017 shows we are on the right track," Georgiades said on his Twitter account.

It is a result, he adds, "of efforts made by the productive forces of this country but also of the responsible decisions taken."

"We are continuing the effort" he concludes.

Cyprus growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2017 accelerated to 4.0% marking the highest growth since the second quarter of 2008, according to data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service.

As reported in the Gold News

Eighty five percent of banks cite implementation of a digital transformation program as a business priority for 2018, according to the EY Global Banking Outlook 2018. Investment in technology to drive efficiency, manage evolving risks and benefit from growth opportunities is seen by banks as critical for sustainable success.

Addressing cybersecurity is the top priority for global banks (89%) in 2018, replacing last year's top priority of managing reputational, conduct and culture risks, which falls to sixth place in this year's report. Recruiting, developing and retaining key talent (83%) also garners significant attention as banks strive to integrate cyber experts into their organizations amidst a skillset shortage.

As reported in Gold News

THE European Commission (EC) agreed to partially fund the cost of infrastructure to enable Cyprus to import LNG. This was one of the 17 projects selected under the framework of the European support programme for trans-European infrastructure Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) on 25 January.

The specific project is known as CyprusGas2EU and its purpose, according to the EU list of projects, is to 'remove internal bottlenecks in Cyprus to end isolation and to allow for the transmission of gas from the Eastern Mediterranean region.'

As reported in Cyprus Mail

As an E.U. member since 2004 and a member of the Eurozone since 2008, Cyprus is a fully compliant platform. Positioned as a gateway between the east and west, Cyprus offers full access to the E.U. single market and serves as a link between markets in the Eastern Mediterranean, Asia and the Middle East. As a small but dynamic market, Cyprus can act as a sandbox for companies wishing to test the success of goods or services before escalating their activities into bigger markets.

As reported in Gold News

Woolworth Properties PLC has agreed to sell three properties to Bank of Cyprus subsidiaries. In particular, the deal concerns the well-known Shacolas Tower on Ledra Street, Superhome Center (DIY) department store in Strovolos and Debenhams Apollon in Limassol for a total price of €44 million.

According to an announcement made by Woolworth Properties on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, its subsidiaries Estelte Ltd and Calandra Ltd have agreed to sell three of their properties to Ravenica Properties Ltd, Wiceco Properties Ltd and Arleta Properties Ltd (subsidiaries of Bank of Cyprus):

As reported in Gold News.