Philenews

Privatization of the Cyprus Stock Exchange Advances with Revised Criteria

Published January 12, 2026, 10:17
Privatization of the Cyprus Stock Exchange Advances with Revised Criteria

The bill for the privatization of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) is moving forward, scheduled for a vote in the plenary session of Parliament this month. The Parliamentary Committee on Finance discussed the fourth revised draft, which includes changes to the weighting of criteria for selecting the private investor. Initially, the highest bid was to be the determining factor, but following concerns, it was decided to also consider the qualitative characteristics of the candidates. According to the revised bill, the business plan will account for 30% of the overall evaluation, while the financial offer will represent 70%. This change was deemed necessary to comply with the framework of state aid. The selection process will involve two stages: one for eligibility and one for evaluation based on qualitative and financial criteria. Furthermore, additional eligibility criteria will be added, such as average cash flows, profitability of the last three years, total revenue, and share capital. The selected investor will be the one with the highest overall score, and their business plan will be binding for the development of the stock market over the next five years. The bill also retains the possibility of excluding potential investors for reasons of public interest. The Superintendent of State Aid Control, Stella Michaelidou, stated that the modification of the criteria weighting to 70-30 is acceptable to the European Commission, as the financial offer now plays the dominant role.