On 25 July 2014, Cyprus signed and ratified an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with the Swiss Confederation, with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, as well as the relevant Protocol. The Agreement will contribute to the further development of trade and economic relations between Cyprus and the Swiss Confederation, as well as other countries ...
Financing in the shipping industry has changed and will continue to change in the following years. The new IMO 2020 Regulations on low sulphur fuel and the IMO strategy on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions) put more pressure on the shipping industry in the aftermath of the worldwide financial crisis. The need for the development of new financial structures in the shipping industry was therefore profound ...
The EU is introducing an additional level of transparency in order to enhance the means tax authorities can use to detect potentially aggressive tax arrangements. In this light, EU Directive 2018/822/EU (hereinafter the “DAC 6”) imposes mandatory reporting of cross-border arrangements, affecting at least one EU Member State, that fall within one of a number of “hallmarks” ...
On 16 December 2019, the European Commission approved under EU State aid rules, five schemes to support maritime transport in Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Poland and Sweden. As far as Cyprus is concerned, the Commission approved the prolongation of a tonnage tax and seafarer scheme in Cyprus. The Commission found that the schemes comply with the rules limiting tonnage taxation to eligible activities and vessel ...
The coronavirus outbreak, and its current exponential spreading, is significantly impacting companies worldwide, with disruption occurring at almost all levels, from the workforce to the supply chain ...
Fiscal Support Schemes Full suspension of operations Companies the operations of which were mandatorily suspended, pursuant to the pertinent Decisions of the Council of Ministers and decrees of the Minister of Health, includinginter aliashopping centres, department stores, cafes, coffeehouses, bars and all catering businesses (excluding delivery services), entertainment venues, cinemas, theatres, performance venues, libraries, museums, archaeological and historical sites, bookies, cas
The Commission has for some time now been focusing on acquisitions of EU companies active in critical industries, especially those that are State-owned, by non-EU companies. In order to control them, it has adopted a foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening coordination mechanism by virtue of Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 (“FDI Screening Regulation”) ...
The property rental sector and the relation between Landlords and Tenants could not remain unaffected by the current Covid-19 pandemic, and there is a need to protect Tenants from eviction proceedings due to their inability to pay rent during the pandemic and the period during which emergency lockdown measures are imposed by the Government of Cyprus. Within the framework of this reasoning, the Rent Control Law (Temporary Provisions) of 2020 was entered into force ...
International trade and shipping play a key role in the transportation of essential supplies, foods and other necessities, a role which becomes even more significant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the lockdowns and restrictions on entry imposed by many countries are causing a severe disruption to the industry while reduced manufacturing activity greatly affects shipment volumes and traffic ...
The COVID-19 pandemic is indisputably the most serious public health emergency of our times, and at the same time, a shock to the global economy. Being a field of law largely influenced by economics, it would seem inevitable that the application of competition law would not be affected by the current economic realities brought about by the coronavirus pandemic ...
Pursuant to the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities Law (the “AML Law”), which transposes into national legislation the 4thEU AML Directive ((EU) 2015/849), companies and other legal entities must maintain and register, in a central public register to be created for this purpose, information on their beneficial owners ...
It has been a long road for everyone’s favourite cheese. The protection of halloumi cheese should have never been complicated. The firm cheese which has the unique quality of retaining its shape even when fried or grilled, has its origins in the island of Cyprus where it has been produced for many centuries ...
A primer on burgeoning crypto-asset regulation in Cyprus In Cyprus, the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, L188(I)/2007 (the “AML Law”) was amended earlier this year through L13(I)/2021 (the “Amending Law”), in order to harmonise domestic legislation with the provisions of the 4th and 5th AML Directives (Directives (EU) 2015/849 and 2018/843) ...
In an article published earlier this year, we discussed how the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, L.188(I)/2007 (the “AML Law”) was amended in order to harmonise domestic legislation with the 4th and 5th AML Directives (Directives (EU) 2015/849 and 2018/843 and how it introduced, for the first time, provision for the registration of Crypto-Asset Service Providers (“CASPS”) ...
The late 1990s to early 2000s were a time when the internet – still in its infancy – was akin to the wild-west; new, uncharted, and rapidly growing in usage and adoption. The accompanying excitement over this new technology fuelled a stock market bubble caused by untenable speculation on dot-com companies ...
The Intellectual Property and Related Rights (Amendment) Law of 2022, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus on 7 October 2022, aims to harmonise the Cyprus copyright regime with various acts at the European Union (‘EU’) level and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. This Law amends and redefines already existing concepts and establishes new definitions and obligations ...