Cyprus Business Now: shipping, Revolut, CySEC, bankruptcy, funding

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has warned investors against nine entities that are not authorised to provide investment services or carry out investment activities. In a notice issued on August 14, the regulator said the websites linked to the entities do not belong to firms licensed under article 5 of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017. Among those named are m4-platform.com and its associated website m4-markets-latam.vercel.app, along with waltonmarketltd.com and investiumlimited.com. CySEC also identified evercrest.capital, gofx.com, tazerpro.com, quantacfd.com, cypriantrustbank.com and omnixmarkets.com. Cyprus has renewed its efforts to attract shipowners to its flag, pointing to tax stability, its European Union status and a strong international inspection record as the registry continues to expand. The Shipping Deputy Ministry said that registering under the Cyprus flag gave owners access to more than a national ship register, particularly as regulatory demands, security concerns and the cost of operating vessels continue to increase. Shipping Deputy Minister Marina Hadjimanolis recently said “one of the Deputy Ministry’s main priorities is to further strengthen the competitiveness of the Cyprus flag and the country’s shipping sector”. Addressing a shipping symposium in Limassol in June, Hadjimanolis said the ministry had been simplifying procedures and creating a more service-oriented environment for companies operating in and from Cyprus. Euroseas has placed much of its future income beyond the immediate reach of a fall in containership rates, securing contracts for more than 95 per cent of its available fleet days for the remainder of 2026. Coverage remains high further ahead, standing at 81 per cent for 2027 and 47 per cent for 2028, giving the Nasdaq-listed shipowner considerably greater certainty over its cash flows during the next two and a half years. The company also has a direct connection with Cyprus. Its 21-vessel fleet includes the Synergy Oakland and Synergy Keelung, two 4,253-teu containerships sailing under the Cyprus flag, according to Euroseas’ fleet records. The Synergy Oakland is chartered at $33,500 per day until March 2029, while the Synergy Keelung is earning $35,500 per day until June 2028, making the two Cyprus-flagged vessels part of the company’s longer-term revenue protection. Revolut has appointed former Trading.com chief executive Georgios Vasiliou to lead its Cyprus-based digital-assets business, placing an executive with more than a decade of trading and risk-management experience at the helm of its European crypto operation. Vasiliou joined Revolut Digital Assets Europe Ltd as chief executive in July 2026, according to his personal platform. He succeeds Costas Michael, who established and led the Cyprus entity before stepping away from its daily management. The Limassol-based company is authorised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) as a crypto-asset service provider under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA. It holds licence CASP001/25, according to the CySEC register, and facilitates Revolut’s crypto services for customers across the European Economic Area. JPB Cyprus Holding Ltd has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of Genesis Logistics, in a deal that would place the Larnaca freight-forwarding company under the ownership of the Paphos-based investment group. The proposed transaction was notified to the competition watchdog on August 12 and remains subject to regulatory clearance. Neither company disclosed the purchase price or how the acquisition would be financed. The Commission for the protection of competition (CPC) notice refers to the buyer as “JPB Cyprus Holdings Ltd”. However, the registry entry and Genesis’ announcement identify its registered legal name as JPB Cyprus Holding Ltd, with registration number HE 411792. JPB Cyprus Holding was registered on August 5, 2020, and operates in the investment sector, directly and through subsidiaries, including property investments. Cyprus wants to become a trusted artificial intelligence hub by 2032. A five-person startup in San Francisco has just provided an unusually vivid warning about what that promise demands. Trust in AI is normally discussed through algorithms, data protection, cybersecurity and regulation. However, for investors, employees and corporate customers, it begins much earlier, with the judgement of the people running the company. That is particularly important for Cyprus as it attempts to attract international technology businesses and encourage homegrown companies to sell AI into financial services, shipping, tourism, healthcare and professional services. In these industries, a founder’s behaviour cannot easily be separated from the operational risk of the product. Cyprus recorded the EU’s second-steepest fall in business bankruptcy declarations in the second quarter of 2026, although Eurostat warned that the percentage was amplified by the island’s small number of cases. Filings fell by 41.7 per cent from the first quarter, behind only Malta, where they dropped by 50 per cent, according to Eurostat figures released on Monday. Slovakia recorded the third-largest decline at 33.5 per cent. The fall reversed a 9.1 per cent increase in Cyprus during the first three months of the year compared with the final quarter of 2025. However, Eurostat said the absolute number of bankruptcy declarations in smaller countries such as Cyprus and Malta is low, meaning that a relatively small change in cases can produce a sharp quarterly swing. Cypriot producers looking beyond the island’s small domestic market can now apply for a share of a €1.7 million state fund to showcase their products at some of the world’s largest trade exhibitions in 2027. Applications opened on Monday under a de minimis sponsorship scheme run by the Ministry of Energy and will be accepted until September 18, 2026. According to the official scheme, applications may be submitted by businesses involved in the processing or trading of industrial and agricultural products, together with companies providing related services. The funding is intended to help local companies enter new markets, meet international buyers and increase exports through exhibitions at which Cyprus plans to operate a national pavilion. Food and drink account for much of the programme. The proposed calendar begins with Fruit Logistica in Berlin from February 3 to 5, followed by ProWein in Dusseldorf from March 7 to 9.