The government submitted a package of four banking bills to Parliament in early July. The move came seven months after the EU’s deadline for Cyprus to align with the European Banking Directive, and four months after the European Commission sent a formal warning letter.
Given the lengthy delay in bringing the four bills before Parliament, the government urged MPs to examine them as a priority. The package now looks set to be debated only in September, since Parliament adjourned yesterday for its summer recess.
EU member states were required to transpose the Directive into national law by January 11, 2026 at the latest, while the bills were only sent to Parliament in early July 2026.
The delay in transposition led the Commission to send its first formal notice last March. Cypriot authorities received the warning letter on March 27, triggering the formal infringement procedure against Cyprus.
The risk remains
The Commission is now stricter about deadlines, taking a harder line on breaches of transposition timelines, the Finance Ministry said.
Even if a member state complies in the meantime and transposes the Directive, the EU may still choose not to withdraw any referral it has already lodged with the Court of Justice of the EU over the late transposition, the Ministry added.
What the bills provide
The four bills concern supervisory powers, sanctions, branches of third-country institutions, and environmental, social and governance-related risks.
The Directive revises the European banking framework, strengthens the supervisory powers of the authorities, and explicitly incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks into how banks operate. It also improves the rules governing branches of banks from third countries, aiming to further harmonise the banking supervision framework and deepen the internal banking market.
One bill provides for the O-SII capital buffer requirement, sets the systemic risk buffer, and empowers the Central Bank, as the Designated Authority, to impose administrative sanctions, periodic financial penalties and other administrative measures.
Another covers the approval of financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies by the Central Bank, where it acts as the consolidating supervisory authority or as the competent authority of the home member state. This bill also covers prudential supervision of third-country institutions’ branches, licensing and regulatory requirements for such branches, ongoing supervision of those branches, the acquisition or disposal of significant holdings, mergers and demergers, and administrative sanctions imposed by the Central Bank.
A third bill contains provisions on the approval of financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies by the Capital Markets Commission, where it acts as the consolidating supervisory authority or as the competent authority of the home member state. It also covers technical criteria for the organisation and risk management of investment firms, governance arrangements, and administrative sanctions and other administrative measures imposed by the Capital Markets Commission.
The fourth bill concerns the board of directors of an investment firm, a financial holding company or a mixed financial holding company, the assessment of the suitability of its members, and governance arrangements.
According to the explanatory report, the first and third bills include additional provisions added following EU recommendations and a completeness check on the transposition and amendment of the directives concerning exempted entities, financial holding companies, remuneration, supervisory measures and powers, and capital conservation measures.