GOLD Magazine Issue 59 -Pages 1 to 10

Goldt h e b u s i n e s s m a g a z i n e o f c y p r u s

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ACCOUNTANCYICPAC at 55

Kyriakos Iordanouon the challenges

INNOVATIONInvesting in theFuture with the

MIC Cyprus

PEOPLEAndrea Antoniou

Michalis PapadopoulosAnastasia Papadopoulou

WHAT’S ONArt, Dance,

Music, Opera,& More

ISSUE 59 FEBRUaRy 21, 2016PRICE €3.00

ENSURINGCOMPLIANCEWhat it means, why it’s needed

Marios SkandalisDirector,

compliance Division, Bank of cyprus

Andrew Demetriou Director, ioannides

Demetriou LLc

Michalis Loizou coMPLiANce

oFFicer, A. Neocleous trust

company LtdEleftherios Philippou

risk & rePutAtioN

LeADer, Deloitte Ltd

Michael M. Antoniades

BoArD MeMBer, kPMG

Eleana Spyris LeGAL ADVisor/

coMPLiANce oFFicer,

euroLife Ltd

Andreas Andreou Vice-chAirMAN, cyprus securities

and exchange commission

Andreas Theodosiou

Director, AMF Global

Pantelis Christofides

PArtNer, L. Papaphilippou

& co LLc

Elias Neocleous PArtNer,

head, corporate and commercial

Department, Andreas Neocleous

& co. LLc

Gabriel Onisiforou

BoArD MeMBer, eY cyprus

Presents

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ISSUE 59 | fEbrUary 21, 2016 | en

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34 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

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T H E B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E O F C Y P R U S

I S S U E 5 9 F E B R U A R Y 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

C O N T E N T S

8 | BUSINESS BRIEFINGEconomic & Business Highlights of the past month. 14 | MY WAY Evangelia Eliadou’s management style.

12 | FIVE MINUTES WITH… Andrea Antoniou

13 | THEY SAID WHAT?A selection of memorable quotes from Cypriots in the public eye.

OPINION76 | Lessons from Greece By Dr. George Theocharides

FEATURES14 | IN Business Awards 2015Four pages of photos from the event.

18 | Investing in the FutureThe Microsoft Innovation Center in Nicosia.

22 | ICPAC at 55Interview with General Manager Kyriakos Iordanou

66 | Command the Horizon ONE: The tallest seafront residential tower in the Mediterranean.

70 | Preserving CapitalInterview with Rashid Mohamed, Investment Specialist Global Credit, BNP Paribas

71 | Economic activity in emerging markets likely to hold investors’ attention in 2016The 2016 Outlook compiled by the K2 team at Franklin Templeton Solutions

74 | Ancoria Pension PlanA new pension plan for

the market.

COVER STORY

30 | Ensuring ComplianceLeading compliance

professionals from a variety of industries explain how they ensure that they and their clients comply with

today’s complex regulatory requirements.

C

7418

100 | IN GOOD COMPANYExchanging views on life as an employee at Windsor Brokers

103 | BOOKSHELFFive of the best new business titles.

104 | MY COLLECTIONChristodoulos Angastiniotis and ‘The Quality of Old’

108 | LUNCH WITH GOLDMichalis Papadopoulos, Head of Corporate Communications at CYTA

111 | BUSINESS CLASSDieter Rohdenburg, CEO of Intership Navigation Co Ltd

112 | WHAT’S ONGold’s guide to the best cultural events of the coming month.

114 | A DAY IN THE LIFEAnastasia Papadopoulou

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL

FEATURE 147 | Compliance

Thirteen leading firms outline what compliance means to them and how they ensure that it plays

a key role in their culture and operations.

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL

FEATURE 277 | Car+

Eight leading automotive companies present

their products, services and latest models.

55108

122 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus122 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

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| EDITORIAL |

John Vickers,Chief Editor

[email protected]

Rules and Regulations

n 2013, when the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes evaluated Cyprus as ‘non-compliant’, the race was on to amend gaps in the system and restore the island’s reputation. Last October, the island’s supplementary report on the changes made to its legal framework and practices was approved by the Global Forum, which reclassified Cyprus as ‘Largely Compliant’The pressing need for the country’s infrastructure, legal framework, tax system and professional services to be officially recognised as being of the highest standards

forced the tax authorities, accounting and legal firms to take action. They proved, and not for the first time, that when it is considered absolutely essential, they can work together and get things done.

Corporate and regulatory compliance are still seen by many firms around the world as a major headache – and not entirely without reason. But in today’s global financial environment, regulated entities no longer have any choice in the matter: they either comply or face crippling fines and, ultimately, loss of licence. For this month’s cover story (page 26), we spoke to Compliance Officers and other representatives of leading firms in a variety of regulated areas (banking, legal, Forex, accounting, fiduciary, etc.), as well as to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, to find out how much importance they give to the compliance issue. The conclusion? An incredible amount. To quote one of the experts featured (Eleftherios Philippou, Deloitte), “We cannot speak of good corporate governance if there are no strong compliance systems in place.” Another point to emerge from our discussions on the subject is that almost everyone we spoke to recognises that a singular lack of compliance played a major role in the collapse of the island’s banking system and economy three years ago. Once again, being forced to change things brought out the best in both the public sector and the business community but doubts are already being expressed about what the future holds, once the Troika is out of the picture. This is also one of the points taken up by Kyriakos Iordanou, General Manager of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC) in a wide-ranging interview (page 22). However, as we try to look forward with optimism, we also feature the ‘futuristic’ Microsoft Innovation Center Cyprus (page 18) and take a look at a new building that will soon claim the impressive title of tallest seafront residential tower in the Mediterranean (page 66). Add to this our regular features that give you insight into the thoughts and ideas of people like lawyer Anastasia Papadopoulou and Cyta’s Head of Corporate Communications, Michalis Papadopoulos, plus a rare view of CIPA Chairman Christodoulos Angastiniotis’ fascinating collection of vintage radios and other equipment, and you’ll find plenty of variety in this month’s issue.

Next month, another milestone: Issue No. 60! Don’t miss it.

MANAGING DIRECTOR George Michail

GENERAL MANAGER Daphne Roditou Tang

MEDIA MANAGERElena Leontiou

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Vickers

JOURNALISTSEffy Pafitis, Artemis Constantinidou

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Maria Pilidou,

George Theocharides, Peter Vincent

PHOTOGRAPHYJo Michaelides,

Emma Louise Charalambous

ART DIRECTION Anna Theodosiou

SENIOR DESIGNERAlexia Petrou

PHOTOGRAPHY Jo Michaelides, Harris Kyprianou

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Kevi Chishios

SALES MANAGER Irene Georgiou

SALES EXECUTIVE Stavros Epifaniou

OPERATIONS MANAGER Voulla NicolaouSUBSCRIPTIONSMyria Neophytou

PRINTERS Cassoulides Masterprinters

CONTACT5 Aigaleo St., Strovolos 2057, Nicosia, Cyprus

Mailing address: P.O.Box 21185, 1503, Nicosia, Cyprus

Tel: +357 22505555, Fax: +357 22679820e-mail: [email protected]

subscriptions: [email protected]

ISSN 1986 - 3543PUBLISHED BY IMH

I

100 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus100 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus100100 || GOLD GOLD | | The Business Magazine of CyprusThe Business Magazine of Cyprus

Who we areEurofast is a regional business advisory organisation oper-

ating in South East Europe and East Mediterranean offering

various professional services including M&A and Transac-

tional Advisory, Business Restructuring & Insolvency, Market

Entry Services, Banking and Financial Services, Outsourced

Payroll and Employment Solutions, Citizenship & Residency

Services, Corporate Services, Transfer Pricing, International

Tax, Tax Planning & Tax Compliance, and Accounting.

We Specialise in M&A & Transactional Advisory

We, take pride in our dedicated team of professionals,

specialising in M&A and transactional work in our offices,

throughout South East Europe and East Mediterranean. Eu-

rofast has over 28 years of experience working with glob-

al businesses and leading institutions. Over the years we

have performed a successfully significant number of local

and international M&A transactions in the region. We have

a unique approach to support M&A transactions at inter-

national level through our professional network, providing

assistance to our clients in all phases of M&A transactions

from planning process to closure and post integration.

Our Network We are uniquely positioned as one stop shop for in-

vestors looking to enter South East Europe and East-

ern Mediterranean. We have 21 fully fledged offices in

Athens, Thessaloniki, Nicosia, Sofia, Bucharest, Belgrade,

Podgorica, Tirana, Skopje, Zagreb, Pristina, Banja Luka, Sa-

rajevo, Cairo, Alexandria, Tbilisi, Beirut, Erbil, Moscow, Kiev

and Tehran.

Our competitive advantage We seek to delight our clients, by being proactive. Our aim is

to create client enthusiasm by giving even more value to

our clients, whether measured by price, performance,

quality or service. Our portfolio includes a number of high

net worth individuals and clients engaged in every sector of

the economy, which proves the range of our abilities.

Our competitive advantage stems from our ability to serve

our clients promptly, efficiently and effectively. Every Eu-

rofast office consists of teams ranging from 15-60

professionals with diverse backgrounds and experience

including tax, legal, M&A, payroll, accounting, audit and

consulting.

Our credentials Our clients, global brands and leading institutions, operat-

ing in the manufacturing, retail, airlines and professional

services sector, are the vivid evidence that Eurofast is your

trusted business advisor in South East Europe and East

Mediterranean.

We have achieved worldwide market recognition for our

exceptional advice, capabilities and innovation. We have

been acknowledged as a leader in Tax in Cyprus for the

past 8 years. We have been ranked top Tax Advisors and

announced “Cyprus Tax firm of the Year” by International Tax

Review which is a true recognition for the valued client work

we deliver every day. In 2014, Eurofast was also recognized

for its expertise in M&A.

For 2015 we were acknowledged by Acquisition Interna-

tional as ‘Leading Corporate Adviser of the Year – South

East Europe’ for our work done in the Region.

For more information on Eurofast, its offices and its service portfolio, please visit www.eurofast.eu.

Eurofast is Taxand Cyprus.

LeadingCorporateAdviser

of the YearSouth East Europe

2015

LeadingCorporateAdviser

of the YearSouth East Europe

2015

Eurofast: Your Regional Business Advisory team

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[email protected] | www.eurofast.eu

RICS CYPRUS RICS Cyprus has appointed a new Board

of Directors, the Chairman of which is Pavlos Loizou, Partner, Resolute Asset Management for Greece and Cyprus.

CYPRUS UNION OF SHIPOWNERS

The Cyprus Union of Shipowners has reap-pointed Polys L. Haji-Ioannou as Honorary

President. Andreas Hadjiyiannis was named President of the Executive Committee.

IFA UKRAINEChristodoulos Damianou, Executive Director of Eurofast Global Ltd, has been elected as a Member of the Board of IFA Ukraine for

2016-2017.

ECHR The Council of Europe Parliamentary As-sembly has elected Cypriot Family Court

Judge Georgios A. Serghides as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights.

BAKER TILLY SOUTH EAST EUROPE

Neofytos Neofytou has joined Baker Tilly’s South East Europe team as a Senior Tax Consultant for Cyprus, Greece, Romania,

Bulgaria and Moldova.

ICAEW’s graduation event on 28 January celebrated the achievements of 135 ACA graduates with

your exams, you’ve opened up the door to a very exciting career. The ACA is internationally-rec-

-national market for ICAEW. The successful graduates will now go on to complete their practical

call themselves ICAEW Chartered Accountants.

APPOINTMENTS

BUSINESSBRIEFING

HALLOUMI OBJECTIONS The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development & Envi-ronment has received nine objections to Cyprus’ request to patent Halloumi cheese as an exclusive product of the island. The objections are from companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, the UAE and the US. If no compromise is reached, the European Commission will rule on whether Cyprus can patent the cheese as an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Last year, the Commission published the application for the registra-tion of the name Halloumi /Hellim (in Greek and Turkish) as the protected name for the traditional cheese produced throughout Cyprus.

CTO aims for 2.9 million visitors

T he Cyprus Tourism Organi-sation (CTO) aims to increase tourist arrivals to 2.9 million in 2016, representing a rise from

6% to 7% in both tourist arrivals and revenue over last year. During a discussion of the CTO’s budget, CTO Chairman Angelos Loizou also told the House Fi-nance Committee that the appointment of an Under-Secretary for Tourism would allow the CTO to focus on the promotion of the industry while the appointee would focus on the political aspects.


TOURISM

Casino shortlist due

T he government will soon have a shortlist of three bids for the creation of a casino resort in Cyprus. The Permanent Secre-

tary of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry & Tourism, Stelios Himonas, told MPs. During the first phase of the process eight bids were submitted. Media reports suggest that the three most likely shortlisted bidders are: Hard Rock, North-field’ Sun International, and Bouygues. The plan is to issue the licence within 2016 and have the casino resort ready in approxi-mately two years’ time.

IN THE NEWS

ICAEW GRADUATION

EDUCATION

www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 9

CYPRUS, ISRAEL, GREECE

TRILATERAL SUMMIT

President Anastasiades and the Prime Ministers of Israel and Greece, Benjamin Netanyahu and Alexis Tsipras, met in Nicosia last month and agreed to strengthen cooperation in

-ogy, environment, water management, combating terrorism, and migration. The main focus is on the energy sector, in particular natural gas, as well as projects such as the EuroAsia Interconnector for electricity and the EastMed Pipeline.

VYTENIS ANDRIUKAITIS

The European Union Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, paid a two-day visit to Cyprus on 11-12

February. After his first meeting with Health Minister George Pamboridis, Andriukaitis said that he was happy to be in Cyprus at what he called “this cru-cial moment” as efforts are being made to establish a National Health Service. “We see Cyprus’ steps as a good exam-ple for other EU countries,” he told the Minister, while acknowledging the diffi-culties involved.

HRH THE PRINCESS ROYAL

The Princess Royal (Prin-cess Anne) visited Brit-ish Forces Cyprus and the United Nations in Nicosia, where she spent time with British troops

serving on the island on 4 February. The Princess inspected a Guard of Honour and toured the ‘Green Line’ which di-vides Nicosia. She also met British Forces personnel based at RAF Akrotiri, who are supporting operations over Iraq and Syria, spending time with members of various Corps and Regiments of which she is Colonel-in-Chief.

KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS

D uring a visit to Nicosia in January, the newly elected leader of Greece’s New Democracy party, Kyria-kos Mitsotakis, praised the performance of the

Cypriot economy, noting that the island is on course to exit the Memorandum signed with the Troika in 2013. Mitsotakis, the son of the former Greek Prime Minister Constantinos Mitsotakis, underlined the need for Turkey to honour its commitments to the European Union on limiting and controlling the influx of immi-grants from its territory to Greece.

VISITORS

€650,000

TWO-YEAR EXTENSION FOR

ENI-KOGAS

C have signed a two-year extension of the initial exploration in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

energy prospects during a period in which the international oil and gas industry is experiencing challenging conditions” a press release notes.The consortium will conclude studies in order to identify prospects necessary to complete its drill-ing obligations.

THE AMOUNT THAT THE GOVERNMENT EXPECTS TO SAVE BY OUTSOURCING PART OF THE SECURITY

OPERATION AT CYPRUS’ TWO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THUS

REDUCING THE NUMBER OF POLICE OFFICERS WHO CURRENTLY CARRY OUT CHECKS ON PASSENGERS.

ENERGY

BG GROUP SIGNS BLOCK

12 DEAL

B G Group has taken a 35% holding in Block 12 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which includes the Aphrodite gas discovery. An agreement to

based Noble Energy remains the main op-erator of Aphrodite with a 35% share, while

between Delek Drilling and Avner Oil.


AIR TRAVEL

BUSINESSBRIEFING

EUROFASTEurofast Global was named

Leading Corporate Adviser of the Year in South East Europe at

this year’s Acquisition International Awards. The awards mark excellence in all areas of corporate business consulting

and are voted for by a global network of expert professionals, advisers,

clients, peers and industry insiders.

AWARDS

Ryanair Ryanair launched its new Larnaca-

Brussels route on January 18. It

Monday and Friday. Hermes Airports’

are delighted to see Ryanair returning to Larnaca Airport and strengthen-ing its presence in Cyprus. Through strategic planning and branding, the

Larnaca-Brussels route could become one of the favourite routes for business and leisure purposes for thousands of travellers, both Cypriots and Central-

Europeans.”

Emirates Emirates launches its new daily

Larnaca-Athens service on 1 March

promotional return fares starting from €129 in Economy Class.

It will depart Larnaca at 11.50am, arriving in Athens at 1.35pm.

at 4.15pm, arriving in Larnaca at 6.00pm.From 27 March 2016, the Larnaca-Athens service will

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Cobalt Air Cobalt Air, a new Cyprus-

based airline, has secured an

investor, airline chairman Gregory Diacou revealed this

investor base to include both Cypriot and Chinese capital and is a major boost to our plan to launch operations

carrier,” he said in an interview. Cobalt plans to launch budget

operations later this spring.

Tus Airways Tus Airways made its inaugural

February 14. The company aims to connect Cyprus with neigh-bouring countries, including

Greece, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. The airline’s initial

of 16 destinations. Tus Airways will eventually operate seven

and Tel Aviv and between Lar-naca and Haifa. One-way fares

to Tel Aviv start at €69.

MTN MTN has been awarded with the Silver Accreditation by Investors

In People, the UK’s leading accreditation for business improvement through people

management. The award is for MTN’s excellent people management, its

commitment to realizing the potential of its human resources and its creation

of a work culture conducive to teamwork.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, won

two leading global financial accolades the same week: the 2015 Corporate Rec-ognition Award for Innovation and Excel-

lence from the financial publication Treasury Management International and the Emerging Europe Middle East and

Africa Bond of the Year from the International Financing

Review (IFR). ANDREAS

NEOCLEOUS & CO LLC

Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC was run-ner-up for the Mediterranean Law Firm of the Year award at last month’s 2016

Citywealth International Financial Centre Awards in London. The prominent Cypri-ot law firm competed against firms from across the whole Mediterranean region,

including Gibraltar (from where the overall winner came)

and Malta.

GOLD Magazine Issue 59 -Pages 1 to 10

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