Cyprus Innovation Hub

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (“CySEC”) has announced that it is now inviting applications from FinTech and RegTech businesses operating in Cyprus to participate in its Innovation Hub programme, which was announced earlier this year. Firms that are selected for the programme will benefit from assistance from CySEC in building their understanding of applicable regulations and compliance requirements, as well as dialogue with CySEC to determine and accelerate their business models in line with CySEC’s commitment to ensuring regulated entities’ investor protection.

Firms seeking to participate in the programme will be assessed against a number of criteria, including:

• the extent to which a firm’s products or services are new to the market, and the degree to which these products and services are covered by existing regulation. CySEC will prioritise truly innovative businesses.
• the innovation and emerging technology provided by the business is directly related to the financial services supervised under CySEC’s remit; namely the securities and investment markets.
• the interested party is already underway in determining its compliance with the regulatory framework and/or aspects of the legislation not currently in place for its business model to advance.
• a deep-rooted commitment to investor protection and a strong ethical culture of compliance.

Firms interested in having their sector or products examined by and included in the Hub will need to make an application for assessment. To learn more about the Hub and download the application forms, click here.