Cyprus Business Now

The Association of Cyprus Banks on Thursday took part in an online seminar examining the progress achieved in the Cypriot banking system, as well as the efforts to combat money laundering and illicit financial flows.

The seminar was also attended by foreign business executives and organisation representatives, primarily from the United States.

“It is very important to present the overall reform effort undertaken by the Association of Cyprus Banks and its members,” the association’s director general Michalis Kammas said during the seminar.

“These efforts have helped all stakeholders internationally to have an accurate understanding of the changing regulatory framework and culture that has occurred in Cyprus in recent years,” Kammas added.

Meanwhile, Bank of Cyprus Deputy CEO and Business Banking Division Head Chairs Pouangare said that “despite Covid, we have continued our efforts to reduce risks and improve our banks’ balance sheets, in addition to leveraging the banking sector and reducing non-performing loans”, adding that deposits from Russian clients and customers from other Commonwealth of Independent States countries have decreased to 6 per cent.

Finally, Hellenic Bank’s Chief Compliance Officer Matheos Charalambides said that “Cyprus has been internationally recognised for its improvement in the banking sector, particularly in the United States”.

Total labour costs increased by 7.3 per cent on an annual basis in the third quarter of 2021, after an annual increase of 17.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

According to preliminary data from the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), total labour costs stood at 123.47 points in the third quarter compared to 115.09 points in the corresponding quarter of 2020 and 111.79 points in the second quarter of 2021.

The two components of labour costs, wages and salaries per hour worked, as well as non-wage costs per hour worked, increased by 3.8 per cent and 25.5 per cent respectively year-on-year.

In the second quarter of 2021, the annual changes were 19.3 per cent for wages and salaries per hour worked and 7.5 per cent for non-wage costs per hour worked.

In addition, hourly labour costs (total costs), adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, decreased by 1.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

Hourly labour costs related to wages and salaries, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, decreased by 2.9 per cent, while hourly non-wage costs increased by 6.6 per cent, according to the Cystat data.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, December 16 with losses.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 66.74 points at 13:32 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.16 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 39.96 points, which represents a 0.15 per cent decrease.

The total value of transactions came up to €44,800.73.

In terms of sub-indexes, the main index fell by 1.17 per cent, while the alternative index fell by 0.09 per cent.

The hotel and investment firm indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-0.48 per cent), KEO Plc (-0.75 per cent) and Mallouppas & Papacostas (no change).