GOLD AUG ISSUE FIRST 10 PAGES

ISSUE 65 AUGUST 21, 2016 PRICE €2.00

PRESENTS

140+ Leading Lawyers 70 Leading Law Firms

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5 29 12 95 0 00 57 7

INTERVIEWS

Conny Lenneberg George Stylianou TOLVÄSVZ XLUHRV\KPZ

EDUCATION

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• Free & comprehensive forex education • Regular contests and promotions • Security, safety, and transparency

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ForexTime (FXTM) is an international online forex broker offering financial services in forex, spot metals and CFDs. ForexTime Limited is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 185/12.

There is a high level of risk involved with trading leveraged products such as forex and CFDs. You should not risk more than you can afford to lose. It is possible that you may lose more than your initial investment. You should not trade unless you fully understand the true extent of your exposure to the risk of loss. When trading, you must always take into consideration your level of experience. It is the responsibility of the Client to ensure that the Client can accept the Services and/or enter into the Transactions in the country in which the Client is resident. If the risks involved seem unclear to you, please seek independent advice.

34 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus @2016 FXTM

62 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

ISSUE 65 AUGUST 21, 2016

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

CONTENTS 8 | EDITORIAL 10 | BUSINESS BRIEFING

Economic & Business Highlights of the past month.

14 | MY WAY

Christodoulos Damianou’s management style.

COVER

16 | FIVE MINUTES WITH…

STORY

28 | THE LAW ISSUE

;OLVÄSVZ ?LUHRV\KPZ

We shine the spotlight on 140+ leading lawyers, 70 leading law ÄYTZ WS\Z HU PU[LY]PL^ ^P[O Doros Ioannides, President of the Cyprus Bar Association.

18 | THEY SAID WHAT?

( ZLSLJ[PVU VM YLTHYRHISL YLJLU[ Z[H[LTLU[Z THKL I` *`WYPV[Z PU [OL W\ISPJ L`L

OPINION 22 | A POSITIVE POWER SIGNAL

By Dr. Savvas Savouri.

FEATURES 20 | NEED FOR CHANGE

Melina Pyrgou on what Cyprus must do to PTWYV]L P[Z +VPUN )\ZPULZZ YHURPUN

26 | MARKET ABUSE REGULATION

By Amalia Hadjipapa.

76 | A LITTLE LUCK

16 6

76 7

AND A LOT OF WORK Interview with Positiva Group CEO George Stylianou

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT 47 | Leading Law Firms in Cyprus

Fourteen firms present their services in detail. + Interview with Prof. Achilles Emilianides, Head of the Law Department, School of Humanities, Social Science & Law, University of Nicosia.

80 | THE LEICESTER CITY FACTOR

Applications to De Montfort University have soared since Leicester won the Premier League.

84 | THE ART OF EFFECTIVE

26

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE P Preview of the 2nd International Compliance Forum.

C

108 86 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS IN

96 | IN GOOD COMPANY

By Sophocles Tvmvios.

How Delema McCann Inspires energy and passion among employees.

100 | BUSINESS CLASS Dmitry Popov

108 | LUNCH WITH GOLD Carmel Bonello, Director, 7\ISPJ 9LSH[PVUZ VM )7* International Ltd.

92 | FINDING GOOD IN A

102 | BOOKSHELF

112 | WHAT’S ON .VSK»Z N\PKL [V [OL ILZ[ cultural events of the coming month.

THE SPOTLIGHT The 12th CFO Management Forum.

88 | WHAT MAKES A GREAT CFO? BAD WORLD Interview with World Vision International’s Regional Leader, Middle East and Eastern Europe, Conny 3LUULILYN

4 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

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104 | MY COLLECTION

Stavros Agathangelou and his video games.

114 | A DAY IN THE LIFE Gregory Dellas

114

MARIA

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Above all, we are a people business.

To find out more about our services and to get to know us better, visit www.firstnames.com

76 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

82 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 83

| EDITORIAL |

GOLD ,668( _ $8*867

Long Hot Summer

ISSUE 65 AUGUST 21, 2016 PRICE €2.00

PRESENTS

_ THE LAW ISSUE

140+ Leading Lawyers 70 Leading Law Firms

THE

LAW

ISSUE Recognising

LEGAL

00001 >

E Expertise

5 291295 000577

INTERVIEWS

Conny Lenneberg George Stylianou TOLVÄSVZ XLUHRV\KPZ

EDUCATION

How LLPJLZ[LY FC OHZ HɈLJ[LK \UP]LYZP[` HWWSPJH[PVUZ

REFORM

What C`WY\Z T\Z[ KV [V PTWYV]L P[Z I\ZPULZZZ ranking

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PUBLISHED BY IMH ISSN 1986 - 3543

O

ne often feels that there is something almost immoral about complaining that it’s too hot in July and August, given that, in 2016, some three million people will have paid good money for a two-week taste of what we theoretically enjoy completely free for 350 days of the year, not to mention the fact that, over in the Gulf states, the temperatures can reach such unimaginable heights that it’s hard to understand how people lead their daily lives in such conditions. Nonetheless, complain we do and I have never heard the phrase “climate change” or engaged in so many conversations about “how we used to manage without airconditioning” as often as I have over the past three months.

By the time you read these words, your summer holiday is probably coming to an end and we can all start looking forward to cooler and, frankly, more pleasant weather. Once September arrives in Cyprus, it feels much more like the start of a new year than it ever does in January and the last third of 2016 looks likely to be a very interesting ‘new beginning’. Will Messrs Anastasiades and Akinci work out an acceptable compromise solution to the longstanding Cyprus Problem? Will the Government’s reform programme stay on course? Will there be progress on the National Health Scheme? The next four months should bring answers to all these questions and many more.

In this issue of Gold, we focus, not for the first time, on the legal profession, though this time our cover story spotlight shines first on the individuals (page 28) and second on the firms for which they work (page 42). We also have interviews with Doros Ioannides, President of the Cyprus Bar Association (page 30) and Prof. Achilles Emilianides, Head of the Law Department at the University of Nicosia (page 48) as well as an interview with lawyer Melina Pyrgou on what Cyprus needs to do if it is to rise up the rankings of the annual Doing Business report (page 20).

In addition to interviews with people as diverse as Professor Dominic Shellard, Vice-Chancellor of De Montfort University (page 80), Conny Lenneberg, World Vision International’s Regional Leader, Middle East and Eastern Europe (page 92), and George Stylianou, CEO of the Positiva Group of Companies (page 76), we also offer our recommendations for your summer reading (page 102) and the best cultural events, from opera in Paphos to Wine and Beer Festivals in Limassol and Nicosia respectively (page 112), plus all the regular features that make up your favourite business magazine.

John Vickers, Enjoy this issue and what’s left of the summer. It will soon be the Chief Editor time when we all start complaining about those windy days and cold nights that have arrived so unexpectedly! john@imhbusiness.com

8 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

MANAGING DIRECTOR

George Michail

GENERAL MANAGER

Daphne Roditou Tang MEDIA MANAGER

Elena Leontiou EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John Vickers JOURNALISTS

Artemis Constantinidou, Voula Loizou CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Amalia Hadjipapa, Savvas Savouri, Sophocles Tymvios ART DIRECTION

Anna Theodosiou

SENIOR DESIGNER

Alexia Petrou

ASSISTANT DESIGNER

Stephanie Andreou, George Yiamiadakis PHOTOGRAPHY

Emma Louise Charalambous, Jo Michaelides, Andreas Loucaides, Christos Tsekouras MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Kevi Chishios

SALES MANAGER

Irene Georgiou

SALES EXECUTIVE

Stavros Epifaniou

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Voulla Nicolaou

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Myria Neophytou PRINTERS

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BUSINESS BRIEFING

BANKING

ECONOM Y

Local credit card transactions exceed €6 million in occupied areas and Turkey More than €6 million was spent in the occupied areas of Cyprus and in Turkey with credit cards isZ\LK I` IHURZ PU [OL NV]LYUTLU[ JVU[YVSSLK HYLHZ VM [OL 9LW\ISPJ HJJVYKPUN [V ÄN\YLZ YLSLHZLK I` JCC this month. From January to July, local credit cards were used in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus and in Turkey for transactions that reached €6.04 million. Of those, €4.28 million were spent in the occupied part of the island and €1.76 million in Turkey. The largest amount went to hotels (€2.09 million), entertainment (€1.11 million) and airlines (€1.07 million). In July the value of transactions reached €867,850, of which €644,441 was in the occupied areas and €223,408 in Turkey.

Meanwhile, transactions with Turkish credit cards in the government-controlled areas of the island exceeded €14 million from January to July. €3.3 million was spent in supermarkets, €2.8 million on clothing, €1.85 million on motoring-related goods, and €1.67 million in DIY and household stores. In July alone, €2.43 million was paid with Turkish credit cards in the free areas of Cyprus. Total transHJ[PVUZ ^P[O JYLKP[ JHYKZ PU [OL NV]LYUTLU[ JVU[YVSSLK HYLHZ YLHJOLK Á IPSSPVU PU [OL ÄYZ[ ZL]LU months of the year and €215.4 million in July, increases of 5% and 8% respectively.

E FINANC

RCB BANK PASSES ECB STRESS TEST

RCB Bank Ltd successfully completed the recent stress test carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB). The results show that the Bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (CET1) is 16.58% under the adverse scenario as at 31 December 2018, well above the regulatory minima, includPUN [OL M\SS` WOHZLK PU I\ɈLYZ HWWSPJHISL to the Bank. In a statement, RCB Bank Ltd described the results as yet another JVUÄYTH[PVU VM P[Z ÄUHUJPHS Z[YLUN[O HUK stability. RCB Bank Ltd was not in the list of 51 EU banks for which the European Banking Authority (EBA) conducted the Z[YLZZ [LZ[Z I\[ VU [OL SPZ[ VM ¸ZPNUPÄJHU[ institutions” on which the ECB performed the tests as part of its annual Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP).

IN THE NEWS

MOODY`S CHANGES CYPRUS’ BANKING SYSTEM TO POSITIVE

SIX -YEAR BOND RAISES €52.5 MILLION

The Finance Ministry announced that it successfully raised €52.5 million, after a €10 million six-year bond was overZ\IZJYPILK TVYL [OHU Ä]L [PTLZ :VTL 87 applications were received for a total amount of €52,509,400, of which 67 were from Cypriots and 20 from foreign investors, who applied for bonds worth €46,550,000. The issue of six-year government bonds will continue with the ninth series on September 1.

DIKO MP CALLS FOR POKEMON GO BAN

Pokémon Go, the free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game, which has become a global phenomenon over the past two months with its mobile app reportedly being downloaded by more than 100 million people worldwide, may be credited with promoting physical activity but it has also attracted controversy for contributing to accidents and becoming a public nuisance at some locations. Some governments have expressed concerns over [OL NHTL»Z ZLJ\YP[` ^P[O 0YHU HUK ,N`W[ ILPUN [OL ÄYZ[ [V ban it and Saudi Arabia renewing a 15-year-old edict that Pokemon is “un-Islamic”. Here in Cyprus, meanwhile, there have been warnings from a road safety group about possible accidents being caused by drivers not paying attention on the road while they look for cartoon monsters on their mobile phones (and you thought it was for kids?) and DIKO MP Angelos Votsis made himself unpopular when he posted a message on Facebook saying, “Given that Pokémon Go may turn out to be dangerous for those playing it other people, why not ban it?”

There are no indications of any accidents or bans so far.

Moody`s Investors Service has changed its outlook on the Cyprus banking system [V WVZP[P]L MYVT Z[HISL YLÅLJ[PUN [OL rating agency`s view that the country`s economic recovery will restore banks to WYVÄ[HIPSP[` HUK PTWYV]L [OLPY ^LHR HZZL[ quality. The outlook expresses Moody`s expectation of how bank creditworthiness will evolve in Cyprus over the next 12-18 TVU[OZ ¸(M[LY Ä]L `LHYZ VM SVZZLZ ^L L_WLJ[ IHURZ PU *`WY\Z [V IL WYVÄ[HISL PU 2016 and foresee a modest 0.3% - 0.5% return on assets,” said an Assistant Vice President at Moody`s and author of the report, Melina Skouridou. “Cyprus` accelerating economic recovery, driven by a revival of tourism, the strengthening business services sector and increased consumer spending, will generate some new business,” she added.

AWARDS

BANK OF CYPRUS

Bank of Cyprus retained its title of Best Bank in Cyprus in the recent Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2016. In presenting the award, the internationally acclaimed magazine Euromoney cited Bank of Cyprus’ “outstandingly successful recovery story.�

The Best Bank Award is presented to banks which stand out for their dynamic WYVĂ„SL VU NSVIHS HUK local markets and which distinguish themselves from their competitors.

The award winner is selected following rigorous analysis of each bank’s quantitative and qualitative metrics.

ASSOCIATION FOR HISTORICAL DIALOGUE AND RESEARCH (AHDR) The bicommunal Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) was the winner of the 2016 Max van der Stoel Award. Named in honour of the former Dutch Minister of State, it was established in 2001 and is awarded biennially to an individual or an institution in recognition of extraordinary and outstanding achievements aimed at improving the position of national minorities. The AHDR is housed at the Home for Cooperation near the Ledra Palace checkpoint in Nicosia.

NCR CORPORATION

NCR Corporation, the global leader in consumer transaction technologies, is a nominee for the prestigious German Design Award 2017.

NCR’s SelfServ 91 cantilever ATM combines the look and feel of today’s consumer electronics with modern banking service while allowing barrier-free access.

George Flouros, Vice President, Financial Services in the India/Middle East & Africa region said, “Our NCR SelfServ 91 cantilever sets a new benchmark in design and we are proud that this now has been acknowledged with this nomination.�

36,112

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS, REGISTERED AT THE DISTRICT LABOUR OFFICES ON THE LAST DAY OF JULY 2016. THIS REPRESENTS A DECREASE OF 6,064 PERSONS OR 14.4%, MAINLY OBSERVED IN THE SECTORS OF CONSTRUCTION (DOWN BY 1,312), TRADE (827), ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICES (714), MANUFACTURING (690), PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (546) AND TRANSPORT (OF 531). THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED NEWCOMERS TO THE LABOUR MARKET FELL BY 1,069).

ESS BUSIN

NEW CIBA WEBSITE

T

he Cyprus International Businesses Association (CIBA) has a new website (www.ciba-cy.org). “In keeping with the times

and in order to provide our valued members with a more user-friendly experience when using the CIBA website, it was decided that it was time for a change.

Of course, this is only the first step in what we wish to offer our members, since we hope that it will be our contact with new and existing members, as well as a way of keeping our

Trust in Jordans wherever your business takes you Based inTrust Nicosia, Jordans Trust Jordans Company Company (Cyprus) specialise (Seychelles) can help your in the formation business thrive.and management of companies, both in Cyprus and professional overseas, and provide an Our team provide extensive range of corporate, local insight and a full range of accounting andtrust tax and services. management, director services.

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members informed about news, events and relevant updates,� the Association notes.

The site was revamped by the Cyprus-based IT service provider SOFTimpact Ltd.

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www.jordanstrustcompany.com www.jordanstrustcompany.com www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 11

BUSINESS BRIEFING

MILESTONES Cobalt appoints new CEO

Following the recent resignation of Andrew Pyne Pyne, CyprusCyprus based airline Cobalt has a new CEO. Andrew Madar, who will be in charge for leading the company in its new development phase, will now be focusing on turning Larnaca into an important regional aviation hub and strengthening Cyprus’ image as an allyear-round destination.

New STEP Cyprus Committee Comm

The Cyprus branc branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) held its Annual General Meeting last month, during which a new Committee was elected: Yiannis Demetriades (Chairman), Stella Andrea Kammitsi (Secretary), Chrysthia Papacleovoulou (Treasurer), plus members Peter G. Economides, Elias A. Neocleous, Panicos Loizou, Spyros A. Evangelou and Elena Papandreou.

ENERGY

The Cyprus Institute celebrates 10th anniversary

The Cyprus Institute (CyI), an internationally recognized world-class research and technology institution, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its foundation. The Institute, which focuses on cutting-edge research topics and strategic partnerships with leading foreign institutions, has established itself as a regional scien[PÄJ JLU[YL VM L_JLSSLUJL PU YLZLHYJO and education.

FOREX

ForexTime

EXPANDS TO SOUTH AFRICA

T

he Limassol-based global, award-winning forex broker ForexTime (FXTM) recently received its licence from the South African Financial Services Board (FSB), enabling the company to expand its strategic footprint, while reaching new customers and acquiring local partners in a market of high potential.

Commenting on this latest acquisition, CEO Olga Rybalkina said, “This latest development represents another key milestone for FXTM, and falls directly in line with our mission to expand across the globe. We continue to experience growth on a stable level with our company having developed a strong reputation for

12 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

FORE X

a commitment to providing excellen excellent trading terms and a transparent service. Since our inception, we have steadily established ourselves as an authority in this industry and developed a reputation as a trusted broker in the Asian, European and Middle Eastern markets. South African clients, affiliates and partners can now enjoy all of the benefits and advantages of trading with FXTM and we proudly look forward to building lasting relationships with these traders as a global broker with a local touch, one that was formed on the core principle of trust.” FXTM announced the opening of its UK branch earlier this year, following the appointment of CNBC Arabia’s Hussein Al Sayed as Chief Market Strategist and the face of its brand for the Middle East region.

Six new applications for gas drilling

I

n the latest round of licensing, Cyprus received six applications for offshore gas exploratory drilling in three blocks of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off its southern shores. ENI, Total, Statoil, Exxon Mobil, Qatar Petroleum and Cairn want to drill in an area not far from where ENI discovered a field that could hold up to an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Cyprus has already licensed exploration in five other blocks of its continental shelf. Texas-based Noble Energy discovered the first gas field and Total and ENI are in the process of evaluating data or preparing for exploration drilling early in 2017.