As from July 31st golden visa applications will only be accepted from providers that have registered with the scheme's supervisory body and who have signed up to a code of conduct.
The Cyprus government is ready discuss ways to reduce the time taken to issue Title Deeds, which has tarnished the reputation of Cyprus as a safe place to buy property by overseas investors.
Pressure is mounting on the Cyprus banks to reduce non-performing loans (NPLs) and proposals put forward by the Finance Ministry could also fix areas in the law affecting the issue of title deeds from indebted developers.
The Council of Ministers has decided to restrict the number of citizenships granted under the ‘Citizenship by Investment Scheme', aka ‘Golden Visa Program’ aka ‘Passports for Cash Scheme’ to 700 a year.
Citizenship and residence-by-investment schemes, commonly referred to as ‘Golden Visa’ programmes, are vulnerable to abuse and undermine the fight against corruption in the European Union.
Following questions raised by Giorgos Perdikis concerning the transparency of the citizenship by investment aka passport for cash scheme the Cyprus News Agency reported the figures on Monday.
The Cyprus Consumer Protection Service has ruled that the Hellenic Bank violated consumer rights with abusive clauses in mortgage contracts and imposed charges for early debt repayments.
A property market boom in Limassol has driven up rents as demand for housing has outstripped supply as more companies have moved to the area seeking accommodation for their staff.
Non-performing loans (NPLs) in the Cypriot banking system currently stand at €21.9 billion, or 44 per cent of total loans and 120 per cent of economic output according to the governor of the Central Bank.
Bank of Cyprus CEO John Hourican said he is annoyed and impatient by borrowers seeing a rising property market and wanting to hold on and negotiate more time to repay their loans.
