Cyprus Company and Bank Account Transfer to Malta

Nicosia, 23 March 2013

Latest update on the banking and financial crisis in Cyprus – scroll down to the end of this message – new important developments (very unfavourable) for depositors of Cyprus banks

Effective solutions: Maltese companies or – temporarily – bank accounts in Malta or another country for Cyprus companies

Special (privileged) financial terms for current clients who use Cyprus companies for effective combating of the temporary banking crisis in Cyprus

23/3/2013 – www.fbsmalta.com / www.fbscyprus.com

Solutions (A and B Below):

A. Opening of bank accounts for a Cyprus company in Malta or other countries contact Andreas Lambrou for this option

Or

B. “Transfer of a Cyprus Company to Malta or other countries” at very low prices and with no loss of money for clients who already paid for the old Cyprus company contact Elena Charalambous for this option

** Scroll down to read the latest update on the Cyprus Banking Crisis **

A. Opening of Bank Accounts for a Cyprus Company in Malta or other countries (in 10 working days)

(does not include additional costs for the certification of documents and/or additional work over and above the regular work that may be requested from the legal departments for special cases of clients)

Corporate accounts with internet banking – 425 EURO (additional credit/debit 175 EURO)

Personal accounts – 245 EURO

***Important note – our Group, in its capacity as official introducer of banks in a number of countries, also undertakes the opening of bank accounts in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Hong Kong, Switzerland, Latvia and a number of other jurisdictions.

Malta is recommended due to the low cost, speed of account opening, strong banking system as well as the safeguarding of anonymity***

B.  “Transfer of Cyprus Company to Malta” (in 10 working days)

Please see details below

In the beginning – 1950 euro – Memorandum of incorporation / “transfer” of the company – Conversion of the Cyprus company to a holding and opening of bank accounts in Malta AND the incorporation of a new Maltese company, opening of bank accounts in Malta and registration with the VAT and Income Tax.

Annually – 750 euro for the parent (Cyprus) + additionally, the same cost as was paid before for the old Cyprus company.

Important note:

The terms below are applicable ONLY:

1. To current clients who operate Cyprus companies and wish for their transfer to Malta.
2. For a very limited time, until 30 April 2013.
3. For clients who have settled ALL their pending amounts to the companies of our group.

Basic Principles

– The maintenance as far as possible of the current level of fees which clients pay currently for their Cyprus company and for the fees of their Malta company in the future so as not to create an issue of substantial extra costs for the same amount of work as those agreed before for the Cyprus company. Any extra work will be charged extra.

– Money paid prior by clients for their Cyprus company will not be “lost” but count (through a substantial discount in the first year) for the costs of the new Maltese company for the same time span (e.g. client who paid for annual costs for the period 1/1/2013 – 31/12/2013 for his Cyprus company and now – 31/3/2013- will incorporate a Maltese company. In this case a substantial discount will be given for the first year so as not to affect negatively the clients’ liquidity to a large extent).

– Use of old Cyprus Company as holding of the new Maltese company with the low cost of 750 euro a year (the use of a holding company for the attainment of tax relief and the low (5%) corporate tax in Malta is a requisite corporate structuring) – thus avoiding the costs for closing of the Cyprus company.

Requisite corporate structuring and costs (for attainment of tax relief and the low (5%) corporate tax in Malta / 0% for holding companies)

– The conversion of the Cyprus company to a holding company and the opening of bank accounts in Malta (to receive dividends from the Maltese subsidiary in Malta)
– Incorporation of a new Malta company, opening of bank account in Malta and VAT registration and income tax.

Fees

In the beginning – 1950 euro – Memorandum of incorporation / “transfer” of the company – Conversion of the Cyprus company to a holding and opening of bank accounts in Malta AND the incorporation of a new Maltese company, opening of bank accounts in Malta and registration with the VAT and Income Tax.

Annually

750 euro for parent (Cyprus)
+ plus, the same cost paid for before for the new Maltese for the services set out below:

• Accounting
• Preparation and submission of Income Tax statements
• Preparation of Financial Statements
• Nominee shareholder, director, secretary and registered office services
• Short time Management support

NOT INCLUDED is work which is not mentioned above and which will be charged separately such as (but not limited to) VAT, real costs, taxes, third party fees, certifications, Power of Attorneys, contracts, tax planning, VAT related work, except where included in the charges mentioned prior AND general bulk of work over and above those agreed for the old Cyprus company.

Our office in Malta

Both of the above solutions are supported by our office in Malta (www.fbsmalta.com), which as you know has been operating for a few years now and is fully staffed with a number of high caliber staff and headed by 2 senior partners of our firm (Dr Adrian Vella – lawyer and Josianne Cascun – Chartered Accountant) and provides all aspects of the requisite professional services for the incorporation, operation and compliance with the laws and regulations of Maltese companies, trusts. We note that in the last twelve months our office has been ranked first in monthly company incorporations.

Additionally, here I would like to note that we are the ONLY service provider of such services which is regulated officially under license of the Malta regulatory authority, Malta Financial Services Authority MFSA (the only office with full license in Malta AND Cyprus). No other Cyprus provider has this advantageous position in Malta, and vice versa, and many use our firm for the Malta part (we are the only office with full operation license in Malta AND Cyprus and thus in a better position than other firms for accurate, fast, smooth and above all low cost implementation of the above solutions).

Our office in Cyprus (www.fbscyprus.com) and Focus Business Services

The Group Focus Business Services (which in essence was founded under this trade name in 1998) combines many years of experience in the relevant sector and is headed by Mr. Aris Kotsomitis who has been recognized as one of the top advisors for international tax in Cyprus.

Our basic activity is the formation and operation of Cyprus companies and Maltese corporate structures for international clients who are looking to legally perfect their tax position.

Our Group responds directly with special skill, focusing exclusively on international clients and international corporate structures for the provision of services which cover all aspects required by our international clients (legal, tax, accounting, audit, full corporate services – including “substance” and “ management and control services”).

We provide services which cover EVERY requisite professional service for the formation – formation stage (formation, opening of bank account, granting of a tax record and entry to VAT) AS WELL AS the regular continuing maintenance and good operation and compliance of the business (accounting, book keeping, tax audit, management of the business, keeping of requisite books, representation services, management services etc).

FBS is a fully independent, recognized and established service provider company of Cyprus for tax advise, company formation, trust services and business which are exclusively provided to international clients.

However, other than Cyprus and Malta and through our representatives we also service fully a selected number of other jurisdictions (offshore and onshore – such as the United Kingdom, the British Virgin Islands, the Seychelles and more) and offer specialized international tax advise.

Latest update on the banking and financial crisis in Cyprus – 23.03.13
,
Dear clients and associates,

Re: Cyprus economic crisis – important developments regarding the banking sector and alternative solutions offered by our Malta office ( www.fbsmalta.com )

As you are probably aware from the international media, as a result of intense EU pressure, a small ‘haircut’ of bank deposits around 10% in Cyprus as they stood on 17 March 2013 was being discussed as well as an increase of 2.5% on corporate tax from 10% to 12.5%.

These are negative developments on the banking sector side but are really  insignificant on the tax regime side as, apart from the fact that the corporate tax rate increase is very small (2.5%), anyway, clients carry out tax planning and practically pay very low effective tax rates in Cyprus which are practically below 1%.

In any case this is not good (deposit haircut) for the image of Cyprus internationally.

On 19/3/2013, the parliament of Cyprus rejected the draft bill imposed by the Eurogroup for taxing deposits. 

Unfavourable developments

On 22/3/2013, the Cyprus Parliament voted for legislation regarding the below (I am mentioning only those of interest to foreign clients):

1. Laiki Bank – …. bankruptcy via the method of “good and bad banks”

Depositors with deposits above 100.000 euro, together with non performing loans remain in Laiki bank (the “bad” bank) and enter a liquidation procedure.  This is estimated to mean that depositors will receive only a fraction of their money (30-50%) in possibly 5-10 years!  So this is catastrophic for clients who have large deposits in Laiki bank.

Note here that there is also a proposal for a haircut on large deposits (>100.000 euro) of 20-25% in Bank of Cyprus!  We are expecting the conclusion of the Eurogroup meeting this weekend where the final decisions will be made.

2. Introduction of exchange control legislation

The legislation was passed to allow Cyprus Central Bank unlimited power to prohibit transfer of funds abroad with various methods, without restriction to prevent a large outflow of deposits abroad and the collapse of the banking system.  This means that clients’ deposits will not be allowed to be transferred apart from some limits which are still not clear.

At the moment other developments are still under discussion and it is unknown what the final outcome will be.

As soon as we have the final decisions regarding other issues I ensure you that we I will inform you immediately regarding all developments.

However, whatever the final proposals, the result will be that there will be a temporary (6-12 months) loss of faith in the Cyprus banking system as well as a lot of uncomfortable and ill feeling about Cyprus.

In the meanwhile, the below are solutions ALREADY IMPLEMENTED  by hundreds of clients solving the problem at least for the future and can be implemented IMMEDIATELY via our Malta office, which is fully staffed with a number of high caliber staff and headed by 2 senior partners of our firm and provides all aspects of the requisite professional services. Furthermore, we are the ONLY service provider of such services which is regulated officially under license of the Malta regulatory authority, and is the only office with full license in Malta AND Cyprus. Malta companies are opened in 1 day and bank accounts in 2-3 days.

Summary of alternatives / solutions

Use Cyprus and do the banking (as the tax advantages for the time being remain in place) with the opening of a corporate bank account outside Cyprus – we can open a bank account in Malta for you In 7-10 days – for a few months until normality returns and to see what the final position is OR replace Cyprus with Malta companies ( this solution can be implimented in 10 days  with bank accounts and all registrations and at a reasonable cost).

Both solutions are supported by our Malta office (www.fbsmalta.com) which is a fully regulated and licensed practice and, as you know, has been operating for a number of years now, headed by 2 senior partners of our firm and provides all aspects of the requisite professional services for the incorporation, operation and compliance with the laws and regulations of Maltese companies.

Additionally, here I would like to note that we are the ONLY service provider of such services which is regulated officially under license of the Malta regulatory authority, (the only office with full license in Malta AND Cyprus). No other Cyprus provider has this advantageous position in Malta, and vice versa, and many use our firm for the Malta part (we are the only office with full operation license in Malta AND Cyprus and thus in a better position than other firms for accurate, fast, smooth and above all low cost implementation of the above solutions).

So, either

1.  Continue using the Cyprus company as tax advantages are being maintained AND do the banking outside Cyprus. We note that the corporate tax rate increase does not affect non trading companies, such as holding, real estate holding, portfolio trading  or royalty companies.

Contact Andreas Lambrou  to open Malta Bank Accounts  for your Cyprus company or yourselves and transfer funds (as per my email a couple of weeks ago). This has been normal practice anyway for hundreds of clients over the years (Cyprus company operating  with a bank account in other countries, mainly Malta,The UK, Switzerland, Dubai). The Malta banking system is one of the most sound and conservative in Europe.

Or

2. Contact  Elena Charalambous  to open a brand new Malta company structure to replace the Cyprus company ( 5% tax rate for  company profits, 0% for holding and royalty companies and a similar regime to Cyprus). Special low prices (as a benefit of being an existing client) will be applied so your costs are kept at reasonable levels and not much above current costs.
Logistically the Malta trading company will be a subsidiary company of the old Cyprus company and all the banking will be done in Malta. You can advise your clients and suppliers via a letter informing them that, due to internal restructuring, business will be continued with the new group subsidiary. The company name in Malta can be the same as the Cyprus company name.

Important note:

This is not good news for the Cyprus Banking Sector but at least the tax regime is maintained  AND, although painful, the haircut of deposits is one-off and guaranteed so by EU who, as compensation guarantees unlimited liquidity to Cyprus banks as long as necessary (so no risk of further deposit losses but a one-off loss).

I will revert as soon as the measures are finally agreed and enacted.

I suggest patience AND trust that I will support, inform and advise you through this as i have always done and as soon as things happen.

Contact one of our officers to initiate the incorporation of a Cyprus registered company and start reaping the full benefits of an onshore, low-tax, EU jurisdiction. Simply fill in the contact box below or contact us by email on enquiries@fbscyprus.com