Retail proprietary trading is no longer among the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) immediate regulatory priorities, according to Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) chairman George Theocharides, despite the sector’s rapid global expansion.

Speaking to Finance Magnates, Theocharides, who also chairs ESMA’s risk standing committee, said there are currently no substantial discussions underway on regulating the retail prop trading industry.

“To the best of my knowledge, ESMA is not currently engaged in any substantive discussions regarding retail prop trading,” Theocharides said.

His comments mark a shift from the regulatory stance seen over the past two years, when the sector had attracted growing attention in Paris amid suggestions that retail prop trading could eventually fall within the scope of MiFID II, particularly under provisions governing proprietary trading.

Just a year ago, Theocharides had described retail prop trading as being “on the radar”, but he indicated that the issue has since moved down the list of priorities.

The American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo (AUB Mediterraneo) and Cyta have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at bringing academia and industry closer together, with a focus on innovation, research and hands-on learning in Cyprus.

The agreement sets the framework for a strategic partnership between the Paphos-based university and the telecommunications organisation, at a time when Cyprus is seeking to strengthen its digital skills base and support closer links between education, technology and business.

According to AUB Mediterraneo, the partnership reflects a shared commitment to preparing the next generation of professionals in areas such as technology, engineering, business and digital transformation. 

Under the agreement, the two sides will work together on a series of initiatives, including student internship programmes, lectures by industry executives, workshops, research activities and social projects.

The Bank of Cyprus on Thursday announced that it received two major honours at the EMEA Finance Achievement Awards 2025 for its €300 million Tier 2 bond issuance, further strengthening its standing in international capital markets following the successful transaction completed in September 2025.

The latest recognition marks the third consecutive year that the Bank of Cyprus has been honoured by the internationally recognised EMEA Finance magazine, reflecting its continued presence and performance in global debt capital markets.

The bank received the award for Best Financial Institution Bond (Mid-Cap) across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the award for Best Financial Institution Bond in South Eastern Europe.

According to the bank, the awards recognise the outstanding success of the Tier 2 bond issuance, which attracted interest from more than 100 institutional investors.

Cyprus’ inflation rate rose to 3.1 per cent in June 2026, according to figures released by the statistical service (Cystat), as petroleum products and agricultural goods continued to record the sharpest annual increases.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.26 points in June, reaching 103.00 units, compared with 102.74 units in May.

The rise means that prices were 3.06 per cent higher than in June 2025, while the general index increased by 0.25 per cent compared with the previous month.

For the first six months of the year, inflation stood at 1.70 per cent compared with the same period of 2025.

Cystat said the largest annual increases by economic origin were recorded in petroleum products, which rose by 21.17 per cent, and agricultural goods, which increased by 9.01 per cent.

Paphos is evolving into one of Cyprus’ most dynamic business and investment centres, with tourism now complemented by real estate, education, technology and professional services, according to an analysis published by KPMG Cyprus.

The professional services firm said the district has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, shifting from being primarily known as a coastal destination for holidays and retirement into a more diversified economy with a strong international outlook.

According to KPMG Cyprus, this transformation has been driven by new investment, upgraded infrastructure, higher education institutions, international businesses and a property market that continues to attract overseas buyers, creating a new development model for the district.

The firm said this transition gathered pace after Paphos was named European Capital of Culture in 2017, enabling the city to capitalise on its increased international profile, strengthen its outward-looking approach and lay the foundations for a new economic reality.

Commercial shipping is no longer dealing with isolated danger zones, but with a chain of crises that are increasingly feeding into one another, Nikolas-Alketas Drosos, Maritime Commercial Manager & Country Representative for Greece and Cyprus at EOS Risk Group, has warned.

Drosos said the old model of maritime risk, built around clearly defined danger zones and standard security measures, no longer reflects what shipowners, operators and insurers are facing.  

He said that “for decades, international shipping operated under the assumption that the greatest threats were located in specific areas and were addressed with specific security measures,” he said, adding that “today, this assumption is collapsing”. 

From the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, and from the South China Sea to the Baltic, he said commercial shipping is now operating in an environment where state rivalry, terrorism, piracy, organised crime and migration pressures are no longer separate risks. 

According to Drosos, the main concern is not simply that the threats have increased. It is that they are developing at the same time, across routes that are essential for energy, food, raw materials and consumer goods.

Cyprus’ house prices rose at a slower annual pace in the first quarter of 2026, although they increased compared with the previous quarter, preliminary figures from the state statistical service (Cystat) showed on Thursday.

The House Price Index stood at 102.95 points in the first three months of 2026, up 1.6 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2025 and 3.4 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to Cystat.

That compared with annual increases of 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, 2.9 per cent in the second, 4.2 per cent in the third and 6 per cent in the fourth, pointing to a softer year-on-year pace at the start of 2026.

The quarterly picture, however, showed a renewed increase. After rising by 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, the index fell by 1.8 per cent in the second quarter, increased by 3.7 per cent in the third and was unchanged in the fourth, before rising by 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.

Cyprus’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.1 per cent in May 2026, according to figures released by Eurostat on Thursday, marking a further improvement from the previous month and a sharp decline compared with a year earlier.

The latest data showed that Cyprus’ unemployment rate eased from 3.2 per cent in April 2026 and 3.3 per cent in March 2026, while standing well below the 4.5 per cent recorded in May 2025.

The number of unemployed people in Cyprus was estimated at approximately 16,000 in May 2026, down from around 17,000 in both April and March 2026 and significantly lower than the 24,000 recorded in May 2025.

The figures indicate that Cyprus continues to outperform both the euro area and the European Union average, with unemployment remaining well below the corresponding rates across the bloc.

Only Bulgaria and the Czech Republic recorded lower unemployment rates than Cyprus in May 2026, with both countries posting rates of 2.9 per cent, while Poland also recorded a rate of 3.1 per cent.

Cyprus recorded 1,711,525 guest nights in short-term rental accommodation booked through online platforms during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to data released by Eurostat on Thursday, as demand for platform-based accommodation continued to grow across Europe.

The figures cover accommodation booked through major online platforms including Airbnb, Booking and Expedia, with Cyprus treated as a single statistical region because of its size, unlike larger countries that are divided into multiple regions.

Eurostat also reported that guests spent 144.3 million nights in short-term rental accommodation booked through online platforms across the European Union during the first quarter of 2026.

This represented an increase of 9.7 per cent compared with the same quarter of 2025.

Compared with the first quarter of 2024, the total number of guest nights across the European Union increased by 16.6 per cent.

Rental costs in Cyprus continued to increase in the opening months of 2026, while house prices also maintained their upward trajectory, according to data released by Eurostat on Thursday.

The latest figures showed that the harmonised index of consumer prices for actual rental payments in Cyprus rose to 103.95 points in May 2026, up from 103.91 in April, 103.37 in March, 102.61 in February, 101.53 in January and 101.08 in December 2025.

The data point to a steady month-on-month increase in rental costs throughout the first five months of 2026.

Eurostat also reported that house prices in Cyprus continued to rise, although at a more moderate pace than in several other European Union member states.

Compared with the previous quarter, house prices in Cyprus increased by 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, following no change in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 3.7 per cent increase in the third quarter of 2025 and a 1.8 per cent decline in the second quarter of 2025.