Articles

This year, Forbes reported a rise in legal pre-paid hours in the U.S., and the trend is slowly catching up in Europe too. Here in Malta, we offer our ‘legal toolkit’ to customers who want to pre-pay for our legal and corporate services to set up a new company or to maintain their existing one. But what exactly are pre-paid legal hours, and why would your business need them?

Technology and innovation are the future and the Republic of Cyprus has been taking positive steps to ensure that it will be at the forefront in these areas. In line with the need to advance innovative minds and radical technological developments, in 2016 the Republic of Cyprus implemented a competitive IP Regime offering tax exceptions to income from Intellectual Property (“IP”).

The Cyprus IP Regime has been reviewed by the EU Code of Conduct and has been assessed as fully compatible with EU standards.

1. Introduction

The authorization and operation of an investment firm in Cyprus is regulated under the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017 as amended (“Law”).

The Law applies to investment firms, market operators and third-country firms providing investment services or performing investment activities through the establishment of a branch in the Republic of Cyprus.

The Law constitutes the national transposition of the Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (“MIFID II”).

Today’s business owners have the opportunity to expand like never before. To avoid the worry of somebody illegally taking a piece of the pie when expanding and being part of the global economy, it is vital to protect one’s IP in as many countries as possible. The rise of technological development provides for a seamless expansion experience. This can be done either by directly applying to each jurisdiction or by using the facilitation of the Madrid system as explained below.

The Paphos District Court recently issued a very important decision in relation to a house in the village of Armou, Paphos District, which collapsed due to subsidence. The court awarded the plaintiffs compensation for the purchase price of the house, i.e. €256,000, interest from the date of the claim until the plaintiffs' compensation, and the plaintiffs' costs of €5,000, as well as court costs.