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Financial Services and FinTech

You want to operate a regulated business in the EU with your authorisation secure. We guide you through licensing and compliance so that it is.

HomeSectorsFinancial Services and FinTech

Regulation is now part of the product. Firms that build it in from the start move faster later.

We advise on the rules as they apply in practice, not only as they read on paper.

Financial services regulation in Cyprus

We advise investment firms, fund managers, payment and e-money businesses, crypto-asset service providers and their investors on the Cyprus and EU regulatory framework. Our work covers authorisation, governance, outsourcing, change of control and the day-to-day questions regulated firms face with CySEC and the Central Bank of Cyprus.

How we help

  • Regulatory perimeter analysis and licensing strategy
  • Investment services under MiFID II and MiFIR
  • Fund management, AIFs and UCITS
  • Payment services, electronic money and crypto-assets under MiCA
  • Digital operational resilience (DORA), outsourcing and governance
  • AML compliance, regulatory investigations and acquisitions of regulated firms

Fintech lawyers in Cyprus

We advise fintech founders, payment businesses and crypto-asset service providers on entering the EU market through Cyprus. Our work covers the regulatory perimeter, the licence application, the corporate and tax structure behind it, and the governance and outsourcing arrangements regulators now expect.

How we help

  • Regulatory perimeter analysis: which activities need which licence
  • Crypto-asset service provider authorisation under MiCA, the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation
  • Payment institution and electronic money institution licensing with the Central Bank of Cyprus
  • Digital operational resilience (DORA), ICT outsourcing and third-party contracts
  • AML and customer onboarding frameworks
  • Corporate structuring, investment rounds and relocation of fintech teams to Cyprus

Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) licensing

We advise brokers, asset managers and investment advisers on obtaining and maintaining authorisation as a Cyprus Investment Firm with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. Cyprus implements MiFID II through Law 87(I)/2017, and a CIF licence can be passported across the European Economic Area.

How we help

  • Choice of licence scope: investment services, activities and ancillary services
  • Application to CySEC, business plan, programme of operations and policies
  • Governance, board composition and key function holders
  • Capital and prudential requirements under the EU investment firms framework
  • Passporting into other EEA states and establishing branches
  • Ongoing compliance, material changes and changes of control

Common questions

Who regulates financial services in Cyprus?
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission supervises investment firms, fund managers, funds and crypto-asset service providers. The Central Bank of Cyprus supervises credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic money institutions.

Is approval needed to buy a regulated Cyprus firm?
Generally yes. Acquiring a qualifying holding in a regulated firm usually requires prior notification to, and approval by, the competent supervisor, which assesses the suitability of the proposed acquirer.

 

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Discuss your regulatory question.

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