1. INTRODUCTION -
Having been a former British colony for several years of its history (from 1878 until its independence in 1960), the legal system of the Republic of Cyprus (hereinafter “Cyprus”) follows, to a great extent, an Anglo-Saxon approach and thus contains many elements of common law principles even to this day. One such example is the practice of company law. The formation of a company and the overall procedure for establishing a business in Cyprus is governed by the Cyprus Companies Law (Cap.113) (the “Companies Law”), the drafting of which has its basis in the English Companies Act of 1948. In addition, as Cyprus has also been a member of the European Union (the “EU”) since 2004, any legal procedures and legislation have been drafted to comply with EU laws and regulations.