Licensing of Credit Institutions

The procedure and requirements for the licensing of a credit institution in the Republic of Cyprus (“the Republic”) are set out in Section 4, Part II of The Business of Credit Institutions Laws of 1997 as subsequently amended (“the Law”).  The scope of licensing includes:

A.    Credit institutions to be established in the Republic; 
B.    Credit institutions established and authorised in a third country, that seek to operate in the Republic through a branch.

The application for the licensing of a credit institution should be submitted by / on behalf of the applicant entity, (hereinafter “the applicant”) to the Central Bank of Cyprus (“CBC”) and should be accompanied by, amongst others:

• The programme of operations, setting out the types of business activities envisaged and the structural organisation of the applicant,

• The identification of the parent undertaking, financial holding company and mixed financial holding company within the group (if applicable),

• A description of the arrangements, processes and mechanisms, as these are referred to in Section 19(2) of the Law, and

• Any other documents and information that the CBC may require.

Application fee:

• Each applicant company shall pay the fee of twenty thousand (20,000) euros at the time of submitting its application to the CBC for obtaining authorisation as a Credit Institution in accordance with section 4 of the Law. 

• The relevant application fee should be deposited in the account - "APPLICATION FEES" with IBAN CY65 0010 0001 0000 0000 0772 3042.

Application procedure:

Α. Credit institutions to be established in the Republic; 

It is noted that the European Central Bank (“ECB”), is exclusively competent to authorise all credit institutions established in the Member States participating in the Single Supervisory Mechanism (“SSM”), i.e. including in the Republic of Cyprus. Specifically, from 4 November 2014, the ECB assumed a number of tasks relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions established in member states participating in the SSM, which have been conferred on it by the Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013. These include the task of the licensing of all credit institutions within the SSM.

For further guidance as regards to the information requirements and supervisory expectations for the licensing of a credit institution, applicants are advised to refer to:

• The Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2580 of 17 June 2022 supplementing Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards specifying the information to be provided in the application for the authorisation as a credit institution, and specifying the obstacles which may prevent the effective exercise of supervisory functions of competent authorities

• The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2581 of 20 June 2022 laying down implementing technical standards for the application of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to provision of information in applications for authorisation of a credit institution

•  2021 - Guidelines on a common assessment methodology for granting authorisation as a credit institution under Article 8(5) of Directive 2013/36/EU (EBA/GL/2021/12)

• The ECB Guide to assessments of licence applications, and

• The ECB Guide to assessments of fintech credit institution licence applications

Having regard to the above, the CBC cooperates closely with the ECB throughout the licensing procedure.

Further information is available at:

• How the ECB handles personal data

• The authorisation procedures within the framework of the SSM

The CBC notes that the licensing process, while governed by formal procedures, is intended to be interactive, and, in this respect, prospective applicants are advised to consult with the CBC as early as possible in order to discuss the nature of the prospective application and to receive the CBC’s preliminary views. 

Submission of an application: 

i.    Use of the IMAS Portal for the submission of the application

As of 2 September 2024, in order to contribute to the ECB’s goal of digitalisation and efficiency, the procedure for submission of an application to the CBC (and at the same time to the ECB which is exclusively competent to authorise all credit institutions established in member states participating in the SSM) is made through the IMAS Portal of the ECB, (for more information, please refer to this link). 

ii.    Notify the CBC via email 

Once the application is submitted through the IMAS Portal as described in point (i) above, on the same date, applicants should also send an email to licensingsection@centralbank.cy notifying the CBC of the submission of the application on the IMAS Portal, stating therein the date of submission and the name of the applicant and shall also include the receipt of the payment of the relevant application fee. 

B. Credit institutions established and authorised in a third country, that seek to operate in the Republic through a branch.

For the purposes of completing an application, for the licensing of a credit institution established and authorised in a third country, which seeks to operate in Cyprus through a branch, applicants shall request from the CBC the relevant questionnaires that need to be filled and signed by the applicant, and which form an integral part of the application, and the information that must accompany the application form submitted by / on behalf of the applicant.

The application shall be submitted by / on behalf of the applicant entity to the CBC via email, to the following email address: licensingsection@centralbank.cy.  The application shall also include the receipt of the payment of the relevant application fee. 

Documentation format

Documentation submitted to the CBC (either via email or via the IMAS Portal) should be in an e-readable format, i.e. they should be automatically converted in .pdf format, so as to provide the CBC/ECB the capability to electronically read the text of the documents and to further process it. Documents which are not issued by the applicant, such as certified copies of academic degrees, certificates of clean criminal record which are issued by the Police etc. are excluded from the aforementioned requirement, however, such documents should also be scanned and submitted in a .pdf or .jpg format.

Notwithstanding the above, the originals of all documents must be kept at the registered office of the applicant entity and the CBC reserves the right to request their submission to the CBC, at any time. 

In case you have any queries regarding the application procedure, please do not hesitate to address an email to licensingsection@centralbank.cy.

Page last updated on 2 September 2024