CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Marios Pelides, Dominique Pelides and Konstantinos Efthymiadis, Georgiades & Pelides
Supporting Documents The notification must be accompanied by the follow - ing supporting documentation: • copies of the final (or most recent) transaction documentation; • copies of the most recent annual returns and audited financial statements of all the participants in the concentration; • copies of any reports or analyses produced for the purposes of the concentration (if they relate to Cyprus), which form the basis for the information included in the notification; • an index and summary description of all reports, analyses, etc, that have been prepared for the pur - poses of assessing the competitive impact of the concentration, the market conditions and potential or actual competitors; and • in the case of a public offer, a copy of the announcement of the bid and a copy of the offer document (if one exists). Language The notification itself must be submitted in one of the official languages of Cyprus (ie, Greek or Turkish), but is usually submitted in Greek. The supporting docu - mentation may be filed in English. Two hard copies of the notification (along with its sup - porting documents) must be delivered to the offices of the CPC. They must also be sent to the Service electronically. Supporting documents may be submitted in either original or copy form. If copies are submitted, the notifying party must certify that the copies are genu - ine and complete, but there is no formal certification requirement (eg, notarisation or apostille). 3.6 Penalties/Consequences of Incomplete or Inaccurate Notification No penalties are imposed for submitting an incom - plete notification. However, submission of an incom - plete notification could cause a delay, in that the time limit for the CPC to issue a decision on the notification only begins once the CPC considers it has received a complete filing.
Penalties can be imposed for submitting inaccurate or misleading information in the filing or for failing to submit information required by the Law. Such penal - ties include a fine of up to EUR50,000. Fines must be accompanied by a reasoned explanation by the CPC for the imposition of the fine, and parties subject to fines must be given the opportunity to be heard. Should the CPC discover it has approved a concen - tration on the basis of false or misleading information, it may withdraw its approval, modify the terms of its approval, or require the parties to reverse the whole or part of the implementation of the concentration. Although fines for providing inaccurate or mislead - ing information are not frequently imposed, in a fairly recent case (where inaccurate information was sub - mitted regarding a participant’s business activities as part of a notification), the CPC imposed an administra - All notifications begin their life as Phase I investiga - tions. A Phase I investigation starts when a complete notification is submitted to the Service. The CPC must issue a decision within one calendar month from the date the CPC considers a complete filing has been received. “Decision”, in this case, means a statement by the CPC that: • the notified concentration does not fall within the ambit of the Law; or • the notified concentration does fall within the ambit of the Law but does not raise competi - tion concerns (and the concentration is therefore approved); or tive fine of EUR25,000. 3.7 Review Process Phase I • the notified concentration does fall within the ambit of the Law and raises competition concerns, and as a result, the CPC needs to proceed to a Phase II investigation. The CPC has the power to extend the one-month review deadline by an additional 14 days where it con - siders that the deadline might be missed as a result of the complexity or amount of information submitted as part of a notification. Any extension must be notified to the party that submitted the notification at least
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