Bank Of Cyprus Remu Secures Remarkable Turnaround In Asset Disposition

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 13, 2025

The Bank of Cyprus’s property management unit has engineered a remarkable turnaround, with its property sales surpassing new asset acquisitions since 2019. This strategic shift, highlighted in the bank’s nine-month financial results ending September 30, 2025, underlines a focused approach to revitalizing non-core asset portfolios.

Substantial Gains In Asset Recovery

The Real Estate Management Unit (REMU), dedicated to liquidating properties acquired through debt-for-asset swaps, has recovered approximately €1.3 billion in asset sales since 2019. This performance far exceeds the €0.5 billion in property acquisitions during the same period, showcasing a disciplined divestment strategy.

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Impressive Sales Performance And Profit Expansion

In the nine months leading up to September 30, 2025, REMU finalized property sales totaling €231 million, a significant rise from €82 million during the corresponding period in 2024. Profit from these transactions nearly doubled to around €10 million compared with €5 million in the previous year, underscoring the unit’s improved operational efficiency.

Portfolio Dynamics And Market Shifts

The reported sales spanned all property categories, with approximately 40 percent of the gross sales value derived from land transactions. The unit executed sales agreements for 289 properties, valued at €250 million. This contrasts with the prior year’s 367 properties, which amounted to €94 million, including a €3 million transfer. Additionally, advanced sale procedures for properties were recorded at €26 million, with €14 million of that figure confirmed through signed agreements, down from €53 million (with €27 million confirmed) in September 2024.

Contraction In New Asset Intake And Book Value Reduction

New asset intake was significantly lower in 2025, with properties worth €9 million taken over via debt-for-asset swaps and recoveries, compared to €28 million in 2024. Concurrently, the net book value of recovered properties under management decreased to €419 million by September 30, 2025, marking a 45 percent reduction from €764 million in the previous year—largely due to a major disposal completed in June 2025.

Strategic Outlook And Market Considerations

With its concerted efforts, REMU has already met its goal of reducing its non-core asset portfolio to around €0.5 billion by the end of 2025. Nevertheless, the bank cautions that “REMU profits remain volatile,” acknowledging the ongoing uncertainties within the real estate market.

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Copyright Law Struggles To Keep Up With AI Training

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.

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