EDITORIAL: What’s cooking at Cyprus Company House?

This newspaper has repeatedly criticised the lack of vision of the present and past administrations as regards the goings on (or not) at the Office of the Registrar of Companies that has disintegrated into a second-rate government unit with poor productivity forcing hundreds of potential businesses away from Cyprus shores.

What was once the foundation of the “economic miracle” of the post-war 1970s and 1980s has been transformed into a backwater office of bureaucracy where the files and applications are piling up by the day. And nobody seems to care.

Lawyers, accountants and business consultants are furious that a simple company or trade name registration could take months to process, while rival financial centres, primarily in eastern Europe and the Channel Islands could do it in less than a day.

Cyprus rightfully harmonized its corporate tax laws to provide a universal rate for local and international companies, formerly the “offshores”. But little else was done in the way of providing a comprehensive package, such as increased efficiency at Company House, reducing red tape, hiring more qualified staff and introducing online processing methods.

In other words, the “one-stop-shop” that every Minister of Trade has longed for has been nothing but a wet dream.

Contributing to this demise is the power struggle within the Office and the competent Ministry, with rampant rumours of favouritism, missing files and selective processing that cast serious doubt over the department’s reputation, that should have remained unblemished.

The Opposition is not helping either, with proposals of reform repeated over and over, when these should have been implemented or at least introduced when they were in power almost five years ago.

The competent Minister should not be affected by the three months in office he has left but should try and resolve this mess by calling all interested parties to contribute to a general overhaul. He should put aside personal feelings and see who does a good job and who doesn’t. Perhaps it’s time some heads rolled in order for tranquility and teamwork to resume at Company House.

It is a shame that leading accounting/audit firms and law offices seem to yield absolutely no power so as to be able to force the Minister or even the President to take drastic action. All we hear are complaints, but no action.

One would have thought that joining the eurozone would have boosted new company registrations, takeovers, mergers and corporate restructuring in general, but at this rate the only thing in common with the other club members will be the use of the same currency, while Malta, joining with us, will be light years ahead.

We might as well go back to growing potatoes…

 

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In an unrelated matter, press reports about a high-ranking public servant aiding a local consultancy while supposedly on sick leave, should be substantiated by the newspaper in question in order to force the Civil Service Commission to investigate fully, otherwise it will fuel another rumour of a cover up.