Cyprus Law Firms | Lawyers in Cyprus | Chambers & Co

Armed guards to be allowed on Cyprus registered ships

Cyprus Lawyer — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:59:33 +0000

The Cyprus parliament has unanimously passed a bill that will allow crews of merchant ships registered in Cyprus, to defend themselves with weapons in case pirates launch an attack.

Cyprus will be the first country within the European Union to pass such a maritime law and will apply to all ships sailing under the Cypriot flag.

The Law will enable Cyprus registered ships to defend themselves against illegal acts, including attempts to take their crews hostage.

The Law will further enhance Cyprus’s position as a leading maritime center. For further information on Cyprus ship registration please feel free to contact us.

CySEC to Supervise Binary Options Trading in Cyprus

Cyprus Lawyer — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:41:37 +0000

CySEC, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, has announced its intention to begin regulating binary options brokers.

CySEC officially announced on May 3 2012 that the provision of Investment Services with respect to Binary Options falls under MiFID and shall thus be supervised from now on by CySEC.

The announcement comes after approximately two years of advocacy by MAP S. Platis, a consulting and advisory board that works closely with financial institutions in Cyprus, Russia and the European Union.

Until recently, it was unclear whether binary options fall under the scope of MiFID and whether companies offering binary options should be regulated by the competent financial services authority of each EU Member State in which they operate. The majority of EU Member States did not have a clear policy on the treatment of binary options trading, while other Member States such as the UK, treat binary options trading as gambling.

This means, that all entities that offer investment services related to binary options must now submit their applications to CySEC, in order to obtain a license to operate as a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF), otherwise they should cease their operations.

MAP S. Platis has noted that at least 3 binary options brokers have so far applied for binary options regulation with many more expected to follow.

New Ship Registration Policy Published

Cyprus Lawyer — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:20:32 +0000

An amended government policy on Cyprus ship registration under the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships, Sales and Mortgages) Laws 1963 to 2005 has been published by the Department of Merchant Shipping.

This new policy has been in effect since October 2011.

All sea going ships of any any type or size are eligible for registering in the Register of Cyprus Ships or the Special Book of Parallel Registration. The ship to be registered must comply with the relevant age and type related requirements set out in the policy.

Ship registration restrictions based on age

Cargo vessels, floating production storage offloading vessels, floating storage offloading vessels, mobile offshore drilling units and fishing vessels over 25 years cannot be registered. The maximum age for other types of vessels is 35 years.

Passenger vessels have no restriction on age with regards to registration.

For recreational vessels which fall within the scope of EU Directive 94/25/EC, the year of production will be substituted for the year in which the keel was laid.

Depending on the age of the ship, initial inspection and additional periodic inspections may be required, as follows:


Ship Category	Maximum age	Initial Inspection	Periodic Inspection
Cargo ships and high-speed cargo vessels	25 years	If older than 15 years	No
Passenger ships and high-speed passenger vessels engaged on international or short international voyages	No	If older than 30 years	Biennial if aged between two and 10 years; annual if older than 10 years
Passenger ships and high-speed passenger vessels engaging on domestic voyages within the territory of a state other than Cyprus.	No	If older than 25 years	Biennial if aged between two and 10 years; annual if older than 10 years.
Passenger ships and high-speed passenger vessels engaged on domestic voyages within the territory of Cyprus	No	If older than 20 years	Must be inspected and certified annually.
Fishing vessels	25 years	If older than 20 years	No
Floating production storage offloading vessels, floating storage offloading vessels and mobile offshore drilling units	25 years	If older than 15 years	No
Ships of types other than those listed above	35 years	If older than 20 years	Biennial if the ship carries industrial or special purpose personnel and is aged between two and 10 years; annual if older than 10 years.
‘Cargo ship’ means a ship which has been constructed or adapted for the purpose of carrying cargo in any form.’Passenger ship’ means a ship which has been constructed or adapted for the purpose of carrying fare-paying passengers.

Non-qualifying vessels

Applications for Ship Registration will not be accepted if at the time of application the ship:

is banned by a member of any memorandum of understanding on port state control from entering the ports of the states which are party to that memorandum;
is been banned by a state from entering its ports; or
has been detained on three or more occasions during the two-year period before the application for registration by a member of the Paris, Tokyo or Mediterranean memorandum of understanding on port state control or by the US Coast Guard.

Furthermore, applications will not be considered for ships built for exclusive use on inland navigation or which are to be used exclusively on inland navigation.

Welcome to Chambers & Co

Cyprus Lawyer — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:57:02 +0000

Chambers & Co was established in 1996 and is a Cyprus Law Firm providing legal services to Cyprus & International Companies, financial institutions and private clients. Our practice is primarily Commercial, Corporate & Tax Law, servicing the needs of a wide range of companies and foreign corporations. We also advise entrepreneurs on establishing new ventures and companies on expanding their businesses. Tax law in many countries contains provisions whereby taxable profits may be reduced according to particular circumstances, hence a tax planning is necessary to maximise advantages and concessions allowed by domestic corporate tax law.

Our Firm often associates with other Law Firms specializing in cross border investments, providing thus high level of services.

Through years of experience, we have built up a solid reputation with our clientele, which enables us to offer the highest representation you’ll find. The firm has a wide-ranging client base. Our clients include commercial and industrial companies; banks and other financial institutions; professional partnerships and high net worth individuals.