Cyprus ‘destination of choice’ for investment funds

Cyprus is persuading Investment Funds to move their operations to the island with stakeholders pleased that despite the pandemic interest is gaining traction.

This was the main conclusion from the Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA) Annual General Meeting this week.

An investment fund is a vehicle containing capital from investors used to collectively purchase securities.

Investment funds domiciled in Cyprus have €8 bln worth of assets under their management.

At the AGM, CIFA chairman Andreas Yiasemides, said efforts to promote the sector in 2020 have paid off, despite the pandemic.

“Cyprus has become in practice a destination of choice for investment funds”.

Yiasemides said CIFA is working on improving the sector’s regulatory and tax framework.

As a result, important regulations are expected to be implemented in 2021, making the country an even more attractive destination for Investment Funds.

Vice-Chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) George Theocharides said that licensing applications filed with the regulator continued to rise in 2020.

He said 50 applications from investment funds are pending approval by the authority.

Institute of Certified Chartered Accountants, general manager Kyriakos Iordanou said the arrival of Investment Funds in Cyprus will boost the economy, creating highly specialized new jobs and attracting high-income foreign executives.

He said that the investment funds sector is at the forefront of the Cyprus economy, and the goal to strengthen the sector even further through cooperation with CIFA.

Investment funds are one of the three pillars of the government’s focus to attract foreign direct investments and international organisations to move their operations to Cyprus.