Amendments to financial and investment sector Laws

28/2/2015
In January 2015 a number of amendments were made to Cyprus laws regulating the financial and investment sector in order to align them with EU legislation. Below are the main principal changes incorporated in the Law.

The Business of Credit Institutions Law of 1997
Law 5(I) of 2015 amends the Business of Credit Institutions Law of 1997 to align it with the EU Capital Requirements Directive (Directive 2013/36/EU) and the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013), providing a framework for the prudential supervision of credit institutions by the Central Bank of Cyprus and establishing standards for corporate governance, the fitness of the persons that effectively direct the business and the policies for remuneration of senior management.
Moreover, the Law on the Macroprudential Supervision of Credit Institutions (Law 6(I) of 2015) designates the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) as the competent authority for implementing specific provisions of the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation in conjunction with other supervisory authorities in the financial sector.

The Takeover Bids Law of 2007
Law 7(I) of 2015 amends the Takeover Bids Law of 2007 by providing that the requirement to make a mandatory bid that arises when a certain percentage shareholding is reached contained in article 13(1) of the Takeover Bids Law does not apply in the event that the acquisition (or possession) of titles arises due to the application of resolution tools, powers and mechanisms provided for in Title IV of the EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014), in line with article 119 of that Directive.

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Law of 2013
The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Amending Law 8(I) of 2015 amends the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Law of 2013 to better align it with certain provisions of Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers, to harmonise it with Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 2013/14/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013, which amends several EU Directives, including Directive 2011/61/EU on Alternative Investment Funds Managers in respect of over-reliance on credit ratings, and to exercise the discretion provided by the second subsection of Article 28(1) of Directive 2011/61/EU regarding provision of information to investee companies.