Latest Cyprus Decrees Issued

The Republic of Cyprus has issued new decrees providing further relaxation to banking restrictions as follows:

• Payments and/or transfers of funds abroad do not require the approval of the Central Bank (previously, amounts over €2.000.000 required the approval of the Central Bank) – however, justification documents still need to be submitted to the relevant local credit institutions;
• Transfers of deposits/funds abroad up to €20.000 (previously €10.000) are freely permitted;
• Physical exports of Euro notes and/or foreign currency notes are permitted up to €10.000 (previously €6.000) per natural person per journey abroad.

The provisions of the previous decree regarding the branches and subsidiaries of foreign banks remain unchanged. The decrees are valid until 16 February 2015.