The Department of Registrar of Companies is in the process of unfreezing the assets of companies affected by the sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom, stated the Registrar of Companies Irene Mylona-Chrysostomou.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Mylona-Chrysostomou stated that following Finance Ministry instructions, the Department formed an ad-hoc team to process approximately 600 requests submitted by companies to have their assets unfrozen.
“We have already gathered and reviewed about 300 requests, 100 of which have been processed,” said Mylona-Chrysostomou.
As explained, the Department of Company Registrar first reviews the request and then accepts it, issuing the requested certified copy, which the applicant will submit to the bank “to be released from the administration of that company.”
It should be noted that after the publication of the initial sanctions list, companies that had sanctioned individuals in their management structure faced difficulties in conducting their activities, as their accounts had been frozen.
“To a large extent, the problem that had arisen has been addressed because we see that if the actual beneficiary of the company is not under sanctions, the company is delisted,” said Mylona-Chrysostomou.
She explained that the certified copy presents the directors of the company, shareholders, registered office, and secretary at the time of issuance.
“The banks demand this from the Company Registrar. They conduct numerous checks and were the first to apply the American and British sanctions. Among the other checks they carry out, they request a certificate from the Registrar indicating who the Director, Secretary, and Shareholder are,” explained the Registrar of Companies.
Review in light of updated lists
Mylona-Chrysostomou noted that the Registrar’s Office is examining the updated sanctions list from the US and UK “to determine the involvement and manner in which Cypriot companies are implicated in relation to the Company Registrar so that we can handle them in the same way.”
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