In a recent meeting of the House legal committee, Bar Association chairman Michalis Vorkas voiced strong opposition to the proposed oversight model for service-industry firms in Cyprus. The model, which is still under parliamentary discussion, would see the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission overseeing 50 of the country’s largest service-provider companies.
Vorkas criticized the approach, stating that the size of a company should not be the sole criterion for determining scrutiny levels. He argued that such a distinction is not the way to ensure compliance and expressed concerns that setting a limit on the number of clients a service provider can have is unacceptable.
The creation of the oversight authority was announced last month by Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, but it has yet to clear the hurdle of discussions in parliament before proceeding to plenum. Vorkas highlighted that the government had not invited key stakeholders, such as the bar association, to engage in dialogue on the matter, although they have been called to a presentation on March 22.
Disy MP Nics Tornaritis, chair of the committee, urged the government to conduct consultations, emphasizing that while oversight should be comprehensive, it must not breach lawyer-client confidentiality. Vorkas dismissed any notion that the association’s disagreement with the oversight authority indicated a lack of transparency. He stressed that monitoring communication between lawyers and their clients would undermine established legal principles and EU standards.
As discussions about the authority continue, representatives from industry bodies like the bar association and the accountants’ association (Selk), as well as finance ministry officials, will be invited for further talks. Industry associations have expressed their disapproval not of oversight itself but of the government’s current plan, which they believe conflicts with client confidentiality.
For more detailed coverage on this developing story, readers are encouraged to follow updates from the Cyprus Mail on Google News.
