Establishing a company in Cyprus

Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC is a broad based legal practice based in Cyprus and Greece. One of its areas of specialisation is the company formation, management and administration of Cyprus and offshore companies, and formation and administration of Trusts.

Cyprus business law
A Cyprus company needs to have at least one director, one shareholder, one secretary and a registered office in Cyprus.  The minimum share capital of the company is €0.01 (denominated in any currency). The first step in the process is choosing the name of the company, to be approved by the Registrar of Companies. The name must include the word “Limited” (or Ltd) to signify limited liability status. Approval takes six or seven business days, but for urgent cases Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC can offer a list of names already approved by the registrar.

After this, the memorandum and articles of association of the company are prepared and submitted for registration to the registrar, together with details of the officers and shareholders of the company. It will take approximately five working days to obtain a company registration number and another five working days to obtain the company’s corporate documents. Again, urgent cases can be serviced with a list of shelf dormant companies that are already registered.

Cypriot jurisdiction
Cyprus has a very advanced tax planning culture based on an extensive network of double taxation treaties. In recent years – following the accession of Cyprus into the European Union – a large number of international structures involve a Cypriot company. Cyprus at present features the lowest fixed corporate tax rate (10 percent) in the European Union and a very competitive VAT rate (15 percent).

As of the end of 2010 there were 237,372 companies registered in Cyprus, and 19,278 new incorporations in 2010. The Cyprus government recognises the importance of company formations and protects such services by maintaining low tax rates as well as other measures to attract foreign investors to the country.

Professional services
Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC provides a full complement of services under one roof, with the highest level of confidentiality.  The firm’s staff of corporate administrators, lawyers, tax advisors, accountants and auditors all work together to provide a complete package of services necessary for prudent administration and management of companies and trusts.

For more information Tonia Antoniou,+357 253 636 85, tonia@kyprianou.com.cy; www.kyprianou.com.cy