CYPRUS: Foreign investor interest on the rise, says CySEC

Companies from Russia, Luxembourg and Greece are showing interest in specialised investment tools and funds, such as the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman (CySEC) Demetra Kalogirou said recently.

UCITS seek private investors and collectively invest in transferable securities or in other liquid financial instruments and alternative investment funds (AIF), which make alternative investments in real estate, ships and metals.
As Kalogerou said that 14 companies have applied for an AIF licence, 5 of which have been approved by the CySEC board. European legislation provides that such entities can manage funds of over 100 mln euros, she added.
These companies aim to manage AIFs which have already or will be listed on other European exchanges or in Cyprus, she said.
Kalogirou pointed out that the purpose of some of these funds is to invest capital in the Cypriot economy, such as shipping, but also in private companies in Cyprus which have good growth prospects.
She said that CySEC has also received from the Central Bank 12 applications that are pending for the establishment of private investment plans (ICIS).
As regards the UCITS management company GMM which has already been licensed, she said that it has already issued three mutual funds, of which two are single schemes and one is an umbrella scheme with 14 sub-funds of various types.