CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis, Sofia Tryfonos Avraam and Anna Borovska, Scordis, Papapetrou & Co LLC
approval of the relevant regulatory public author - ity may be required. 2.4 Antitrust Regulations Applicable antitrust regulations are the Protec - tion of Competition Law (Law 13(I)/2022), as amended, repealing the former Protection of Competition Laws of 2008 and 2014. The Pro - tection of Competition Law of 2022 transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1 into Cyprus law, and thus grants additional powers to the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC). The objective of the transposition is to empower the CPC to be a more effective enforcer and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market. The Claim of Damages Law for Breach of Com - petition Law Matters (Law 113(I)/2017) sets rules whereupon any injured physical or natural per - son or public authority that has suffered damage caused by an infringement of competition law by an undertaking or concentration of undertak - ings can effectively seek damages against the wrongdoers. 2.5 Labour Law Regulations The Preservation and Safeguarding of Employ - ees’ Rights in the Event of the Transfer of Undertakings, Business or Parts Thereof Law (104(I)/2000), as amended, applies to both pri - vate and public companies during an acquisi - tion. The law applies to any transfer of undertak - ings or businesses or parts of undertakings or businesses to another employer as a result of a legal transfer or a merger. The law sets out the seller company’s rights and obligations arising from a contract of employ - ment or from an employment relationship exist - ing on the date of a transfer which, by reason of the transfer, shall be transferred to the purchaser company.
Following the transfer, the purchaser company shall continue to observe the agreed terms and conditions of any collective agreement, on the same terms as previously applicable under such an agreement, until the date of its termination or expiry or until the entry into force or application of another collective agreement for a minimum period of one year. Furthermore, the transfer of an undertaking, business or part of undertakings or business shall not of itself constitute grounds for the dismissal of an employee by any of the contracting parties. If a termination or a dismissal of an employee occurs and the relevant provisions of the afore - mentioned law are not upheld during a transfer, then employees may seek compensation under the Termination of Employment Law (24/1967), as amended. Each case depends on its own particular characteristics and, therefore, the relevant legislation must be carefully applied to each individual case. 2.6 National Security Review There is no specific legislation to act as a nation - al security review of acquisitions. However, the Prevention and Suppression of Money Launder - ing and Terrorist Financing Law (188(I)/2007), as amended, can be said to be the most rel - evant legislation encompassing all transactions whereby money laundering may be involved or any kind of illegal activity and/or terrorist financ - ing. Also, the EU Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2014 is fully applicable in Cyprus and has been implemented in the legislation through the Market Abuse Law. All the authorities acting within the ambit of the aforementioned legislation can be said to be caught with a duty of reviewing transactions for national security reasons, such as:
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