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" English is a second language , spoken by everyone on the island , allowing us to seamlessly service our clients in English ," he says . "" Cyprus is also part of the European Union , has Euro as its currency , and laws and regulations that are based on the European laws and regulation , but also has law and practices based on common law , due to Cyprus having been under English rule until the early 1950s ." The high quality of life , good weather , and low cost of living index of the island makes it attractive to our expatriate staff ." Matsis adds that MUFG Investor Services conducted a thorough analysis to determine the best jurisdiction to establish a new office . " Our strategy from day one is never to focus on lowcost operational centres but on those from where we can best service our
“ The country has amazing potential .”
VIRAJ KULKARNI , FOUNDER , PIVOT MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
clients . We considered various European jurisdictions , including the Czech Republic , Hungary , Poland , Malta , and Cyprus , among others . We compared the list of advantages and disadvantages offered by each jurisdiction and Cyprus was the clear choice ."
An attractive location To the advantages already identified , Papapetrou adds an efficient tax system at both the level of employees and investors . “ Cyprus has one of the most competitive tax regimes in Europe ,” he says . “ It also has an extensive network of double taxation treaties ( DTTs ) with 66 countries . The corporation tax rate at 12.5 % is among the lowest rates in EU . There is a 35 % cap on personal income tax , and a new choice to be taxed at a flat rate of 8 % on carried interest for certain employees of the management companies .” He adds that gains from trading in a wide range of securities including shares and units of investment funds are tax-exempt . Papapetrou also notes that Cyprus ’ geostrategic position creates opportunities in the Middle East , Asian and African markets . Matsis agrees that the island ’ s location provides opportunities for future growth . " Cyprus is very close to the Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon and Israel , to the Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) countries and to Africa , making it an ideal base to service our clients in these areas and time zones , and in the future as an ideal base out of which to approach prospective clients in the Middle East , GCC and Africa ," he says . Cyprus is in fact the firm ’ s second operational centre in Europe , the other being in Dublin . " Through our Dublin office we have presence in the northwestern most part of Europe , and now through the Cyprus office we are establishing our presence in the southeastern most part of Europe ," Matsis explains . " These two locations allow us to cover the European and near-by time zones , enabling us to service our global client base using a ‘ follow-the-sun ’ 24 / 7- hour service model ."
Financial services in general , says Matsis , are " part of Cyprus ’ DNA , contributing more than 10 % of GDP . For example , the big-four auditing firms have
52 Global Custodian Fund Services Annual 2022