On 4 July 2014, the Central Bank of Cyprus, acting under the authority vested in it by section 8(1) of the Business of Credit Institutions Law, 1997 - (No. 4) 2013, granted an approval to Bank Zenit (Open Joint Stock Company) (hereinafter referred to as “Bank Zenit”) of the Russian Federation to establish and operate a Representative Office in Cyprus.
Bank Zenit, established in December 1994, is the parent bank of the Zenit Banking Group which currently comprises five banks incorporated in the Russian Federation that provide a range of corporate, investment, private and retail banking services.
It should be noted that, according to the provisions of the aforementioned Law, a Representative Office of a foreign credit institution operating in Cyprus is an office from where the interests of the institution to which it belongs are promoted or assisted but no business of a credit institution is carried on. The above Representative Office is, therefore, not considered to be an authorised credit institution.