The Republic of Cyprus is an attractive jurisdiction for conducting business via one of the various types of companies and other legal entities available. Cyprus companies are regulated by the Companies Act (Cap. 113), as amended, which has been subject to considerable change and improvement over the last years.
The most sought-after type of legal entity used as a vehicle for doing business in Cyprus is a private limited company by shares or by guarantee.
A private limited company by shares is a company where the liability of the shareholders is limited, as determined by its Memorandum, to the amount, if any, that has not been paid for the shares they hold. A private limited company by shares must have at least one (1) shareholder and a maximum of fifty (50) shareholders. Different types of shares can be issued (e.g., preferred shares, redeemable shares, and so forth) but no bearer shares can be issued for this type of company. The transfer of shares is restricted by the company’s Articles of Association and/or the applicable law. The company must have a registered office address in Cyprus. Private companies limited by shares are identified by the word “Limited”, frequently abbreviated as “Ltd”.
A private limited company by guarantee is a company where the liability of the shareholders, as determined by its Memorandum, is limited to the amount that the members wanted to undertake respectively to contribute to the company’s assets in case of its dissolution. The majority of this type of companies are non-profit organisations.
In addition, businesses may be conducted via: