Who wants to become a stock broker?

SCORES sat exams yesterday at Nicosia’s Forum and Hilton hotels to qualify as brokers. The exams, compiled and supervised by the Cyprus Stock Exchange, have a track record of low passing rates, but rumours have been rife for weeks that there were plans to relax the marking of the exams in a bid to increase the number of licensed brokers and thus reduce the influence of the existing 50-plus brokers.

The exchange and the brokers have been embroiled in a deepening battle of wills over the thorny question of who should take the blame for the mountain of unprocessed market transactions which has forced the exchange to close its doors three times since late July. The latest closure, a three- week spell that began on September 3 and was extended by another week last Friday, ends on Monday. The brokers did not take kindly to remarks attributed to exchange Chairman Dinos Papadopoulos this week urging investors to sue brokers for not providing them with share deeds. The two sides are also at odds over the exchange’s decision to fine brokerages retroactively from September 20 for not meeting deadlines on the clearance of transactions.

In the latest twist in the brokers versus the exchange war, allegations surfaced yesterday that Papadopoulos had promised an unnamed company a swift listing on the exchange if it gave work to the major accountancy firm in which he is a partner. The Exchange boss dismissed the charge as groundless, saying decisions on listing on the bourse were not made by him alone.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.