Bank account in Cyprus

Open an offshore bank account in Cyprus

The financial sector of Cyprus is one of the most developed among all European countries. The main objective of the Cypriot government's financial policy has been to create a solid banking system with the lowest tax rates in the entire European Union. Banks in Cyprus can be divided into three categories:

• Banks registered in Cyprus. 
• Foreign banks with subsidiaries in Cyprus. 
• Representation offices of foreign banks located in Cyprus.

Cyprus is a perfect jurisdiction to have a bank account, either personal or for a company. The main reasons that motivate entrepreneurs and individuals from all over the world to transfer their funds to this country are: the transparency offered by European banks, low taxes, guarantee for funds of deposits (100,000 EUR per account or equal amount in another currency), sophistication of banking services related to E-Commerce.

It is very common for banks in Cyprus to open accounts in several currencies, increasing considerably the client's security when it comes to ups and downs in the currency exchange market. Cypriot banks, in addition to being trustworthy, are characterized by low minimum deposits and maintenance rates, compared to other jurisdictions such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Liechtenstein. Also the requirements to open an account in Cyprus are not that strict as in other jurisdictions. If you are looking for an offshore bank account in the European Union, for both you and your company, with high security, low maintenance rates and possibility to develop E-Commerce activity, Cyprus is your ideal jurisdiction.

Banking secrecy and automatic exchange of financial account information

By now Cyprus has signed 52 bilateral agreements of automatic exchange of financial account information. Cyprus together with other countries is committed to eliminate bank secrecy for individuals and companies that hold non-resident bank accounts in the banks of all participating countries. What does this mean? On 29th of October 2014, in Berlin an agreement was signed with the purpose to exchange automatically the information on bank accounts opened by non-residents in other countries. By now the automatic exchange of information agreement has been signed by more than 100 countries (http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/AEOI-commitments.pdf), however it doesn´t mean that the bank account information will be exchanged between all of them. That is, if two countries do not show a mutual interest in sharing banking information of their citizens between them and therefore do not sign a bilateral agreement, the OECD cannot force them to proceed with the joint exchange of information. For example, Cyprus has signed the automatic exchange of information agreement but will not exchange financial account information with all other participants and will only do so with the countries with which it has signed an additional bilateral agreement. Currently Cyprus has signed this agreement with 52 countries. You can see the updated information following this link (bilateral automatic information agreements).

The bilateral agreements signed by Cyprus will affect the citizens of 53 jurisdictions, in particular those who hold non-resident bank accounts, eliminating completely the idea of financial secrecy and anonymity. The banking confidentiality of the rest of the countries that have not signed the bilateral agreement with Cyprus will not be affected, that is, the foreign banks will never report their financial information to the tax authorities of their resident country. The new regulations for the exchange of information have created many problems for and between some of the countries. The intention of European Commonwealth countries such as Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom was that all countries signed bilateral agreements with each other, but after all things did not go that way. In a real world it is hard to imagine Israel signing a bilateral agreement for the automatic exchange of financial information with Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia or the Arab Emirates. Due to the "non-fiscal conflicts" that exist between these countries it makes it very difficult or even impossible for them to work together on elimination of banking secrecy.

Bilateral agreements with Cyprus

It is completely legal to open an offshore bank account in Cyprus. An individual or a company that wants to develop an international business or simply to move its money offshore in order to achieve more security will not be committing any crime. If a physical person is a citizen of a country that has signed a bilateral agreement with Cyprus, it is advisable for him/her to inform his/her tax authorities about the intentions to open a non-resident account in Cyprus, and then through double taxation agreements deduct the income taxes in his country of residence. If, on the other hand, the bank account has been opened by a resident company (registered in Cyprus) or non-resident company (for example, registered in Belize) the beneficial owner will not be obliged to repatriate the dividends of the company annually and therefore will be able to keep all the generated earnings on his offshore bank account in Cyprus without paying income taxes. The owner of the company will have to pay the income taxes only when he transfers the money to his country of residence but in case if he wants to keep it on the account for further business investments or just as a security deposit legally the generated profits will still belong to the company and the beneficial owner doesn’t have to pay tax on this amounts. With time the company might go through the international expansion requiring corresponding expenses. Consequently, the dividends would decrease and logically the income taxes that the beneficial owner will have to pay in his country of residence would decrease correlatively.

Advantages of opening a bank account in Cyprus

The main advantages of opening a bank account in Cyprus are the following:

• Opening an offshore bank account Cyprus is legal.
• Bank secrecy and anonymity are guaranteed for the citizens of those countries that did not sign a bilateral agreement with Cyprus.
• The possibility to open business and personal offshore bank account in Cyprus remotely.
• High expertise level, online banking platforms with the possibility to request any type of financial service: foreign currency accounts, credit cards, letters of credit, accounts to invest in the stock market, payment gateways, credits.
• Professional financial advises for great fortune owners.
• Low maintenance rates
• Banks in Cyprus are extremely regulated and offer a guarantee for funds of deposits (100,000 EUR per account or equal amount in another currency),
• Once the requirements are fulfilled it takes 10 to 20 days to open the account.

Bank commissions in Cyprus

*The customer can open a bank account in any international legal currency they want, (Euro, Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, British Pound, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc etc)

*All the management at the opening of bank account do not need a physical presence in the country, all efforts will be made through e-mail and / or registered mail.