Dear all,

We at Fitzgerald’s believe that some matters are best delt with the experts in the field. And here are just two excellent lawyers who you can contact:

Dr. Panicos Kourides - Lawyer & Legal consultant Contact details:

Tel 357 26 819 121, 26 821 036 Mob: 357 632 560 Fax: 357 26 821 037

email: kourides@logos.cy.net

Mrs Ruth Hatfield Hadjiioannou - Barrister-at-law Contact details:

Tel: +357 026 818 587 Mob: +357 99 105 460 Fax: +357 26 818 588

email: harisruth@cytanet.com.cy

Please note: This information is for guidance only and is not meant to substitute the legal advice.

Property prices in Southern Cyprus have risen significantly over the last few years. Many long term house owners may then been considering cashing in and reinvesting.

If you sell a residential property in Cyprus for a first time, you will have to pay Cyprus Capital Gains Tax, which is currently 20%. You can offset this CGT liability as a result of inflation. the deduction of your professional and legal fees and cost of improvements and interest paid.

Another tax benefit is you are entitled to a ‘once in a lifetime non transferable allowance’ of CYP£10,000. If you’ve owned your house for at least five years, the allowance rises to CYP£50,000.

Theres no CGT if the property is sold as a result of death or if you sell in order to change your permanent residence.

If you bought property in Cyprus before 1 May 2004 when Southern Cyprus joined the EU, as a non-Cypriot national you should have obtained a clearance certificate from the Central Bank to repatriate the funds, less Cyprus CGT back to the UK.

Theres is a double tax treaty with the UK so that any tax you pay in Cyprus can be offset against any UK tax liabilities so you don’t pay tax twice. The current annual British CGT allowance is £8,200.

All the above information is subject to change and whilst we try and keep the details up-to date, it’s always best to seek professional advice before making any decisions.

Central Bank Governor Christodoulou yesterday briefed banking chiefs on the new EU Capital requirements directive that will come into effect from January next year.

The Directive introduces a state-of the arts supervisory framework in the EU on capital measurements and capital standards for all credit institution.

Capital requirements rules stipulate the minimum amounts of financial resources credit institutions and investment firms must have in order to cover the risks to which they are exposed. The aim is to ensure financial soundness of the institutions, in particular to ensure they can weather difficult periods.

The new rules comprise a new ‘supervisory review proccess’ requiring financial institutions to have their own internal processes to assess their capital needs and call for supervisors to evaluate institutions overall risks profile to ensure they hold adequate capital.

The dialogue will begin with 18 local and foreign banks on April 18th.

The Cyprus subsidiary of Societe Generale has set its sights on 5% of the Cypriot banking market hoping to tap business opportunities from EU accession, its GM said.

Longer opening hours and the backing of the French banking giant are the key strategies to challenge the major local competitors: Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank & Laiki Bank.