Demanded criteria and "Letters of Comfort"

In addition to "honesty and accuracy" the applicant should fulfill the following criteria:

1. Mainly only the branches and daughter enterprises of foreign companies, having a good international reputation and already realizing operations in countries, which, in opinion of Central Bank of Cyprus, have the same financial regulation, have a possibility to apply for permission to have their offshore financial activities in Cyprus.

2. In rare cases an applicant can be a natural person, who is going to have business associations with one or more already registered companies during a definite period of time not exceeding 12 months since the day of opening an offshore financial company in Cyprus.

3. If a legal personality or natural person will not have any legal or other business associations with foreign companies, already offering financial services, as it is written in 6 (1) and (2) during 12 months since the day of its existence the application of an offshore company shall be considered if the following criteria are satisfied:

(a) An applicant guarantees that the OFC:

(b) The applicant guarantees that the intended OFC:

Special condition reflecting the mentioned above limitation must be included in the Company’s permit. This limitation is attached as the last article to the Memorandum objects of company’s activity, and to the permit as a special condition.

4. The kind of offshore financial services, offered by company, defines what documents can be demanded by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

(a) If the OFC is organized in the form of an offshore branch:

(b) If the OFC is organized in the form of a "daughter" enterprise:

{c) If the OFC is organized in the form of an offshore company or a partnership associating with a foreign financial unity:

(d) If OFC intends to have legal or other close business affairs with established foreign firms dealing with financial services different from those described in (a) (b) and (c).

5. Complete information about the foreign financial firms, and the list of organs regulating the firms’ activity must be given to the Central Bank of Cyprus which applies to them for getting the necessary recommendations and "Letter of Comfort". In this respect the Central Bank of Cyprus has the right to keep OFC of some business affairs or to stop already existing ones with foreign financial companies.

6. If necessary the Central Bank of Cyprus can ask for "Guarantee-Letter" instead of "Letter of Comfort".

7. It’s necessary to notice that the "Letter of Comfort" and the extracts from the protocols, mentioned above, are only samples and their context may be differed from the concrete particularities of an application.