University students receive €1,000 for top research in capital markets

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has awarded €1,000 in prizes to two university students for outstanding academic research in finance and securities markets during the 2025–2026 academic year, as part of its long-running annual student awards initiative.

The awards, which recognise excellence in academic research and innovation, were presented to students whose work was judged the best in fields related to finance and capital markets.

CySEC explained that the initiative aims to reward outstanding academic achievement, encourage research efforts and promote innovative thinking among young scholars.

The regulator also said that the programme seeks to strengthen ties between the academic community and the financial sector, particularly in matters concerning capital markets.

The awards are presented each year in memory of Frixos Sorokos, CySEC’s first chairman, who played a key role in the establishment and development of the supervisory authority.

For the 2025–2026 academic year, one of the recipients was Xenia Efthymiou, a doctoral student at the Cyprus University of Technology (Tepak), whose dissertation was titled “Bail-In a Generation: BRRD’s Legacy Unveiled – The Case of Cyprus.”

The second recipient was Ioannis Moraitis, a postgraduate student at the University of Nicosia, for his study entitled “A Comparative Analysis of AI-Themed ETFs vs. Actively Managed Mutual Funds: Performance, Risk, and Cost.”

The commission stated that each student received a monetary prize of €500.

The award to Efthymiou was presented by CySEC vice-chairman Panikkos Vakkou during the graduation ceremony of the Cyprus University of Technology on June 16, 2026.

The ceremony was also attended by Kaiti Sorokou, the wife of the late Frixos Sorokos, whose legacy the awards continue to honour.

Meanwhile, the award granted to Moraitis was accepted on his behalf by Petros Lois, head of the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the School of Business of the University of Nicosia.

These annual awards remain part of the commission’s broader efforts to encourage high-quality academic work in areas linked to the financial sector and to support closer cooperation between universities and the capital markets industry.

Petros Lois (left) with CySEC vice-chairman Panikkos Vakkou (right)