The procedure and requirements in relation to the acquisition of Qualifying Holdings in Authorised Credit Institutions ("ACI") incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus (“the Republic”) are set out in sections 17, 17A and 17B of The Business of Credit Institutions Laws of 1997 as subsequently amended (“the Law”).
Any proposed acquirer, who/which individually, or acting in concert with another person(s), has taken a decision to acquire or to increase, directly or indirectly, a qualifying holding in an ACI incorporated in the Republic, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of section 17 of the Law, is advised to refer, also, for guidance to the revised "Joint Guidelines on the prudential assessment of acquisitions and increases of qualifying holdings in the Financial Sector" (“the revised Joint Guidelines”) issued by the Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, ESMA) in December 2016, replacing the previous Joint Guidelines adopted in 2008.
In accordance with the provisions of subsection (4) of section 17A of the Law, a list of information required for the assessment of an acquisition of a qualifying holding in an ACI incorporated in the Republic is, hereby, made publicly available. The said list is based on Annex I of the revised Joint Guidelines.
In order to assist any potential proposed acquirers to submit all the necessary information for the assessment of the notification provided for in subsection (1) of section 17 of the Law, the Central Bank of Cyprus (“CBC”) has prepared the below three questionnaires, which must accompany (as appropriate), all written notifications submitted to the CBC, by or on behalf of the proposed acquirers.
(a) Questionnaire by proposed Acquirer - Natural Person
(b) Questionnaire by proposed Acquirer - Legal Person
(c) Questionnaire by proposed Acquirer - Trust
Any relevant notifications submitted to the CBC together with the accompanying supporting documentation/questionnaires, will, in turn, be notified by the CBC to the European Central Bank (“ECB”), which, as from the 4th of November 2014, is exclusively competent to decide whether or not to oppose any acquisition of a qualifying holding in a credit institution incorporated in the Republic, within the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (“SSM”).
For more information with respect to Qualifying Holding Procedures within the framework of the SSM please refer to the website of the ECB at the following link:
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/about/ssmexplained/html/qh.en.html