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Cyprus Parliament Debates Auction Law Reform Ahead of Elections

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 23, 2026

Cypriot political parties are fast-tracking multiple legislative proposals aimed at reforming the legal framework governing property auctions, a measure positioned as a final step before the upcoming May elections. The proposals are slated for discussion in the Finance Committee on March 9, alongside other pending legislative items.

Accelerated Legislative Efforts

During the latest plenary session, additional proposals were tabled by the Democratic Rally, the Ecologists, and MPs, including Zacharia Koulias and Christos Orphanidis. The proposals address issues affecting lenders, borrowers and guarantors in mortgage-backed property cases. With parliament expected to dissolve before the elections, concerns remain over whether sufficient time will be available for detailed debate and agreement on a unified reform package.

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Key Proposals Under Consideration

Four main proposals are currently under review:

DRA proposal introduces a temporary freeze on auctions of primary residences valued at up to €350,000 until the end of the year. Supporters argue the pause would give lawmakers time to close legal gaps without encouraging strategic defaults.
The first Ecologists proposal expands the authority of the Financial Commissioner to review complaints related to debt verification after borrowers receive initial auction notices.
The second Ecologists proposal sets a minimum sale price at 50% of market value if a property remains unsold six months after the first auction attempt.
The joint proposal by Koulias and Orphanidis requires lenders to exhaust the liquidation of secured assets before pursuing guarantors. If a mortgaged property is sold, guarantor liability would be limited to the capital amount stated in the guarantee agreement. The same rule would apply when judicial action is initiated against guarantors.

Legislative Calendar And Strategic Implications

The final parliamentary session, initially scheduled for April 2, has been moved to April 23 due to the Easter break. Political parties are pushing to finalize auction-related reforms before parliament dissolves, arguing that delays could leave borrowers without additional protections until the next legislative term begins in the fall.

Separate proposals focused on guarantor protections, submitted by DISY, DIPA, EDEK and independent MPs, form part of the broader legislative effort.

The outcome of the March discussions will determine whether lawmakers can agree on a consolidated reform package before the election period begins.

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Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banking And Digital Services Across The UK

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 20, 2026

A power outage at a Google Cloud data centre near London disrupted services across the UK on Tuesday, affecting banks, businesses and other digital platforms. Google said the incident was caused by a power event at its cloud operations, with full recovery expected by around 1300 GMT.

The disruption began at 0608 GMT and affected Google Cloud services in the europe-west2 region, which is hosted in London. In an initial update, the company reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures across multiple services as engineers worked to restore operations.

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Banking Services Hit By The Disruption

Revolut was among the most visibly affected companies, with customers reporting problems with ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and card top-ups. A source close to the matter linked the issues to the Google Cloud outage.

Traditional banks also reported disruptions. Lloyds said some customers were experiencing problems with its app and online banking, while HSBC confirmed difficulties accessing its services. HSBC added that it was monitoring the situation and noted that other organisations were affected as well.

Disruption Spreads Beyond Finance

Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, recorded hundreds of reports involving other businesses, including property website Rightmove and the Royal Mail postal service. The reports suggested that the outage was affecting multiple parts of the UK’s digital economy.

The incident highlights the risks facing businesses that depend on shared cloud infrastructure. Even a temporary failure at a single provider can disrupt services across several sectors, from banking and payments to logistics and consumer platforms.

Companies Reassure Customers

Revolut said it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers. The company also confirmed that customers’ money and data remained safe.

As cloud platforms underpin an increasing share of digital commerce, the outage illustrates how disruptions to critical infrastructure can spread far beyond the provider itself, affecting businesses and customers across the economy.