Afxentiou protest at offshore rating

CENTRAL Bank Governor Afxentis Afxentiou has protested against Cyprus being shifted to the third category of offshore company countries by the Financial Stability Forum (FSF).

According to yesterday’s Phileleftheros Afxentiou told the FSF president that Cyprus objected to being put into any category, especially without being consulted in a matter it was directly involved in.

"Afxentiou put forward Cyprus’ positions on the report during a meeting between the Central Bank presidents of seven countries negatively affected by this report."

The paper said the meeting had taken place in Switzerland about a week ago and that Afxentiou had pointed out to FSF president Andrew Crocket that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had not included Cyprus on its list of tax havens.

"Afxentiou also told Crocket that the FSF categories should be withdrawn and reviewed," Phileleftheros said, adding: "Crocket promised he would read Cyprus’ opinions to the FSF members."

The paper said Afxentiou had insisted Cyprus would not let the matter rest and that he had suggested Finance Minister Takis Klerides send letter to his counterparts in the seven most industrialised countries.

The FSF was established last year and is currently made up of 40 member countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

International financial organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the OECD and the World Bank, are also members of the organisation.

According to the report, Cyprus was one of 24 countries in the third category, along with Costa Rica, Lebanon, the Seychelles, the Bahamas and Liechtenstein.

The report defined third category countries as those with lower quality legal foundations, resources and levels of co-operation than those in the second category.

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.