With questions hanging over the UK’s ability to export financial services to the European Union post-Brexit, Cyprus is positioning itself to UK firms as a potential new beachhead.
At a conference in London organised by the Cyprus Investment Funds Association (Cifa), representatives of the UK funds industry gathered to hear how they could make use of Cyprus’ financial services infrastructure. The island is subject to the same EU directives, and enjoys the same access privileges, as the UK currently does – rights and regulations the UK could well lose if and when the country departs the EU.
Cifa stated that Cyprus’ financial regulations, and its constituent fund houses, were both keen to abet UK fund managers in retaining single market access.
Cifa president Angelos Gregoriades said continuous efforts to upgrade the country’s legislative and regulatory regime, supported by a large network of financial and professional service providers, had helped shape Cyprus’ offering to investors, and transformed the country into an “attractive” investment jurisdiction.
“We can become a supportive, strategic partner to the UK funds industry as it breaks away from the European Union. Our passport to the European fund management industry has positioned us to be a natural alternative solution for the UK,” he said.
The added that Cyprus was fast becoming a “location of choice” for the funds industry, with 162 internationally recognized fund service providers established in the country to date. The island’s fund industry manages assets of €2.9 billion as of September 30 this year, a figure that has tripled since Cifa was established in 2013.
In June, Cifa was granted formal membership of the European Fund and Asset Management Association. The elevation followed two years in which Cifa held observer status with the association.
Later that month, a report suggested Cyprus would be one of the worst hit economies by Brexit.
©2016 funds europe
