On the 14th of April 2011, the Cyprus Parliament unanimously passed the Bank Levy Legislation. The law establishes an Independent Financial Stability Fund for financial institutions. Provided that the totalamount of the levy does not exceed 20% of the total taxable profits of the financial Institution, as these are assessed by the Director of Inland…
Following a three-year investigation by the European Commission, called “purity”, Unilever and Procter & Gamble have been fined a total of 315m euros for fixing washing powder prices in eight European countries between 2002 to 2005. The cartel covered Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. The investigation followed a tip-off by…
The following press release was issued on the 06.04.2011 by the European Commission. The full text of the press release can be found here. The European Commission has today asked Cyprus to respect EU rules that give nationals from the EU, as well as from Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, the right to buy a second…
The governor of Cyprus` central bank, Athanasios Orphanides, announced that it will create a financial stability fund worth around 500 million euros. Orphanides, a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, told the finance committee of parliament, that ‘as an initial target, our aim is to build a fund of around 3.0 percent of…
The Limitation of Actions Law sets out the time limits within which claims must be brought before a court. The Law was suspended following inter-communal disturbances in 1964 and has remained suspended ever since.Law 110(I)/2002 was passed, which provided that the Limitations Law would re-enter into force with effect from 1 June 2005. However, Law…
Taking the gender of the insured individual into account as a risk factor in insurance contracts constitutes discrimination. The methods used by Insurance companies to calculate premiums have been thrown into turmoil following the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling of the 1st of March 2011. The case concerned Directive 2004/113/EC1 which prohibits all discrimination…
As of the 01.03.2011 the duration of the validity cheques issued has been reduced from the current 6 months to 3 months as of the date of the issue of the cheque. This decision affects cheques issued as of the 01.03.2011 and applies equally to government issued cheques following the 01.08.2011. The decision was taken…
On the 18.02.2011, the Republic of Cyprus and the Federal Republic of Germany executed an updated agreement for the avoidance of double taxation on income and capital. The new agreement replaces the existing tax agreement of 1974. The agreement was signed in Nicosia, by Cyprus Minister of Finance Charilaos Stavrakis and German AmbassadorGottfried Zeitz. The…
JSC LTB Bank of Latvia, exercising its right of the freedom of establishment and in accordance with article 10A(1) of the Banking Law No 66(I) of 1997, as subsequently amended, has informed the Central Bank of Cyprus of its intent to open a branch in Cyprus. JSC LTB Bank operates in Latvia since 1991 and…
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has ruled that tweeting and other forms of communication will be allowed in court hearings as long as their use does not disrupt the smooth running of the court. In the guidance published by the Supreme Court relating to the use of “live text based communications” the court…