Cyprus Business Now

The Central Bank of Cyprus has released its Quarterly Financial Accounts (QFA) publication, providing aggregated data on the financial assets and liabilities in the financial sector.

The latest results, which refer to the first quarter of 2021, includes data on a number of sectors, including the local economy (all resident sectors), non-financial corporations, monetary financial institutions, investment funds, other financial institutions, insurance corporations, pension funds, the general government, households and non-profit institutions and the rest of the world.

For non-financial corporations, the results show that loans amount to €37,119 billion in terms of liabilities, while their loans as financial assets amount to €3,263 billion.

For households, in terms of financial liabilities, currency, deposits and loans amounted to €19,591 in total.

The full data can be viewed on the central bank website, with each sector getting its own dedicated table, including historical data for each previous year.

The National Bank of Greece’s recent restructuring plan has destroyed any chances of the bank’s Cyprus division being acquired by Astrobank.

Concurrently, this has confirmed that the bank will continue its operations in Cyprus, even in a drastically limited capacity.

Since the acquisition of the bank by Astrobank is now off the table, Astrobank will be forced to pay a penalty of €4 million.

The penalty is the result of a clause inserted in a 2019 provisional deal struck between the two banks but which resulted in Astrobank not being able to raise the necessary funds mandated by the Cyprus Central Bank to confirm the acquisition.

The Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA) has launched a new version of its website.

The new website improves on its user-friendliness, contains useful information about setting up a business in Cyprus and allows visitors to make an in-site search for their desired information.

“Our goal for the new website has been to centralise all necessary information that someone interested in the investment funds sector will need,” CIFA President Andreas Yiasemides said in a statement.

“Combined with our increased media and social media presence, both in Cyprus and abroad, the ultimate goal is to attract even more investment funds and fund managers to Cyprus and help our country become an important global player of the asset management industry,” Yiasemides added.