On 14 December 2021, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), published the Policy Statement (PS 02-2021) notifying the industry on changes to admissions criteria for UK financial institutions operating under the regulator’s Brexit-related Temporary Permission Regime (TPR).

Up until now, the Cyprus TPR has provided that UK firms can continue to undertake investment services and activities without a physical presence in Cyprus, following Brexit, on the condition that they limited their services to eligible counterparties and/or professional clients based in Cyprus.

Now CySEC has clarified that continued use of the TPR will apply to UK firms only where they:

• Intend to establish a physical presence in Cyprus
• File the relevant application by 31 December 2021

The names and details of UK firms benefiting from continued use of the TPR after 31 December 2021 will be published in a relevant section of CySEC’s website. UK firms not on this list will have to cease their activities in Cyprus by 1 January 2022.

Despite the above, general provisions governing the territorial scope of the Cypriot financial services regime as relevant to non-EU/overseas firms do not seem to be adversely impacted by the Policy Statement or the changes to the TPR.

Separately the Policy Statement refers interested parties to the regulator’s ‘Brexit Information Hub’, which contains relevant Announcements, Circulars and Questions and Answers on the impact of Brexit on the industry. Further details of the hub can be found here.

CySEC’s press release can be found here

The Policy Statement can be found here

Our previous posts on this topic can be found here, here and here