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Cyprus Could Turn EU Regulation Into A Competitive Edge

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Cyprus could strengthen its position as an international financial centre by treating its European regulatory framework as a competitive advantage rather than simply a compliance cost, according to Kyriacos Antonaki, Head of AML & Compliance at KENDRIS Capital Limited.

In an analysis published by the Cyprus Investment Funds Association, Antonaki says investors are increasingly prioritising governance, transparency, resilience and regulatory credibility alongside financial performance.

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Regulation Becomes A Competitive Factor

Financial centres have traditionally competed through flexibility, speed and lower regulatory barriers. That model is becoming less attractive as geopolitical uncertainty, sanctions risks and financial crime concerns increase.

For investment funds and financial firms, investors are now paying greater attention to governance, compliance systems and the quality of supervision in the jurisdictions where they operate.

This could work in Cyprus’s favour. EU rules covering investment funds, financial markets, operational resilience and anti-money laundering have increased compliance requirements but also created greater consistency and predictability.

Cyprus Can Leverage Its EU Position

As an EU and eurozone member, Cyprus combines access to the European regulatory and passporting framework with a competitive business environment, an established professional services sector and a strategic location between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

For smaller financial centres, the opportunity lies not in competing with larger markets on scale, but in offering adaptability, responsiveness and specialised expertise.

Trust Over Regulatory Arbitrage

Antonaki argues that international firms are increasingly looking beyond the lowest costs and towards jurisdictions offering efficiency, market access, stability and regulatory credibility.

However, EU alignment alone will not be enough. Effective supervision, strong governance, professional expertise and consistent implementation will determine whether Cyprus can turn regulation into a lasting advantage.

He also stresses the importance of proportionality, warning that excessive compliance costs could undermine competitiveness, particularly for smaller businesses.

The broader shift is therefore away from competing through lighter regulation and towards building institutional trust. For Cyprus, its EU regulatory status could become not a constraint, but one of the strongest selling points for international investors and financial firms.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

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.