Shiarly defends record on transparency

CYPRUS is not a hub for money laundering and eurozone peers should decide quickly on the island’s bailout bid, Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly told a German newspaper on Sunday.
“Nobody has proved so far that we offend against the rules or even support money laundering,” Shiarly told Der Spiegel magazine in an interview. “We see our future as a serious financial centre. That’s why we want to be one step ahead of our European partners in financial market regulation in future.”
Shiarly said money laundering existed everywhere, including in Germany, but that Cyprus was fighting it resolutely.
A number of lawmakers from Germany’s parliament, which would have to approve any bailout, have already voiced concerns about a rescue for Cyprus, one of the bloc’s smallest economies and a popular tax haven for wealthy Russians.
But while German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called on Cyprus to move forward with its own obligations and reforms, she also said European Union states must show solidarity, apparently giving conditional support to a bailout for the island.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said later on Friday that unless the Cypriot government could show it was sticking to money laundering rules “we have no desire for a race on who is willing to do something first”.
In November, Der Spiegel had cited a German intelligence agency report as saying “Russian oligarchs, business people and mafiosi” would benefit most from any bailout and that Cyprus was a “gateway for money laundering in the EU”.
Cyprus says it fully complies with international rules against money laundering and that its double-taxation avoidance treaty with Moscow and low tax rate give it a competitive edge.
Shiarly rejected demands to raise the corporate tax rate, saying it was discussed intensively when Cyprus joined the EU and found not to be a problem.
However, European Central Bank board member Joerg Asmussen told Der Spiegel that Cyprus would need to do more before financial aid could flow.
“My impression is that improved transparency of the financial sector will be decisive for member states to agree to a programme,” Asmussen was quoted as saying.
The results of an asset review of Cyprus’ banking sector are due on January 18 and eurozone finance ministers will discuss the country’s aid request at a regular meeting in Brussels on January 21. No decision is expected from that meeting.
Shiarly said the island state’s parliament had agreed on all conditions set by international lenders for a bailout.
“Given the uncertain situation, a quick decision by the Eurogroup is necessary to stabilise market confidence,” the finance minister added.

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.