Message from the President

Chris Koutouroussis

CYFA President

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Fiduciary Association, it is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome through our website. Thank you for allocating a few minutes of your precious time to browse and we hope you will find it worthwhile.

The Association has come a long way since its inception in 2011. One of its primary tasks was to engage with all stakeholders during the deliberations on the Fiduciary Law, which was finally enacted in December of the following year. The Law created a supervisory segmentation of the industry, thereby leading to diverse practices and procedures within the framework that Cyprus, as a jurisdiction, should be operating in.

The reason for my historical reference is the fact that achieving common regulation of the fiduciary industry in Cyprus has been a primary target of our Association since its early years of existence. To date, we believe that it is of paramount importance for the future of the industry to eliminate any such imbalances and implement a regulatory framework that creates a minimum standard for all regulated industries to achieve. This benchmarking will ultimately raise the standard of the provided services, and as a result improve the image of Cyprus as a platform for conducting international activities.

Over the past decade, Cyprus has been under the close monitoring by international stakeholders. At the same time, there has been an unprecedented number of tax, legal and banking changes in the international business community, all promoting an era of transparency and exchange of information. These have also been the drivers of developments in the Cyprus fiduciary industry. We expect that the frequency of such “external shocks” will intensify over the next 5 years and it is imperative that we find ways to improve Cyprus as destination for conducting international business.

Understanding and embracing these evolving requirements, the Association is committed to adapting its role and assisting its members to navigate through the turbulent times that lie ahead. To this end, the Cyprus Fiduciary Association has adopted a three-pronged approach. Internally, we invest a significant part of our resources in an ambitious educational plan which, on an annual basis, covers a wide range of issues starting from traditional topics to the latest trends and developments. We also promote and encourage the involvement of our members through their participation in the Associations Committees to analyse developments and provide useful insights to all members. Externally we welcome the engagement with all stakeholders, especially the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, which recognises our Association as the representative body of the sector for their regulated entities.

Before closing, I would like to warmly thank all members who allow their principals to participate in the Association’s Committees, my fellow Board members and the permanent staff of the Association. Your dedication, efforts and hard work are truly appreciated and valued.

Enjoy your browsing.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Koutouroussis
CYFA President