Mazher Zaheer Takes Over The Torch At Creditwest Bank

Dr. Süleyman Erol, who successfully carried out the General Manager duty for more than 10 years, handed over the mandate to Mazher Zaheer.

According to the statement made by Creditwest Bank, Mazher Zaheer began his banking career in 1997 as a Treasury and Foreign Operations specialist at Creditwest Bank, and since 2008, he has held different roles as Deputy General Manager responsible for Treasury and International Banking, Marketing, IT and Subsidiaries.

Since 2006, Dr. Süleyman Erol has been serving as executive manager at Altınbaş Holding and after 10 years as General Manager of Creditwest Bank, he will continue his career as Altınbaş Holding Finance Group President and will be responsible for all finance investments of the Holding in Ukraine, Turkey and Cyprus.

Mazher Zaheer takes over as General Manager at Creditwest Bank

The Path To General Manager Position From Bank Official

Mazher Zaheer was born in Pakistan in 1975 and after his graduation from the International Business Department of the American University of International Studies in 1996, he completed his master’s degree in the Department of Banking and Finance at Girne American University in 1998. Mazher Zaheer began his career in Creditwest Bank under the umbrella of Altınbaş Holding in 1997 as a Treasury and Foreign Operations specialist and as a result of his success, in 2008 he was appointed as Deputy General Manager of Treasury and Foreign Operations. Mazher Zaheer has more than 15 years of experience in treasury, foreign operations and capital markets and has served as Deputy General Manager in different departments of the bank.

Commenting on the subject, Mazher Zaheer stated that Creditwest Bank is an institution that always invests in its employees and leads them in their career paths. Zaheer also underlined the positive effects of having specialized and educated employees and being an innovative, open-minded and pragmatic bank with the largest capital amongst private banks in Cyprus.

He added that their core energy source consists of the determination and creativity of the employees who work consciously, honestly and patiently while investing in human resources and technologies and who do not give up their ultimate goal of superior quality and are eager to improve.

Expat Banking

As a co-founder of expat banking, he reiterated the clear importance of expat banking for Creditwest Bank with the aim of continuing to welcome more expat clients and further enhance the products on offer. Also, with a growing number of dedicated associates and expat banking branches located throughout Northern Cyprus, Creditwest continues to improve and tailor its services to support the needs of current customers and welcome new clients choosing to base themselves in the TRNC.

Mazher Zaheer also stated that the bank’s experience and knowledge of their customers’ needs and expectations are unrivalled. This allows them to identify solutions and develop fast, efficient and high quality products and services within a growing distribution network. Creditwest can draw upon new partnership arrangements with other local businesses to provide a more complete and diverse service to its customers. Whilst the bank continues to develop and innovate to sustain profitability in a highly competitive market, ethics, social responsibility and customer satisfaction remains at the very heart of Creditwest Bank’s mission.

Near East Bank Expat Christmas Soirée

On Wednesday 14^th December, Near East Bank held a Christmas Soirée for their expat customers at the Park Palace Hotel in Kyrenia. The Bank had decided this year not to hold the event at their Karaoğlanoğlu Branch and their choice of venue for 2016 was excellent.

We thought about the days long ago in the UK when banking was more personal and you could visit the Branch Manager and join him in his office to discuss your finances etc. Chris recalled a cinema advertisement for a bank where the Bank Manager would step out from the wardrobe, promoting the personal touch. Here in North Cyprus we can still enjoy the personal touch where you are made very welcome and often invited into the Manager’s office and offered tea or coffee and sit and have a chat.

Many of the banks who have expat clientele hold a Christmas Soirée for their customers and we were delighted to receive an invitation from Near East Bank. We arrived at the hotel to be greeted by Naci Karanlık who has now moved on to a new role within the Banking Group and we found a large number of people in a very nice room where there was a vast array of food and drinks to tempt the guests. There were also 2 Turkish Cypriot ladies in traditional dress making fresh pancakes with various fillings.

We spoke with Enver Haskasap from Near East Group who is also associated with the NEU Drift Team and Soner (Sonny) Soybaflı who is a fairly new member of the Bank dealing with Expatriate Customer Service, plus other members of the Bank Group, including Bahar Gűdenoğlu who is now the Manager of the Karaoğlanoğlu Branch. We did not know a lot of the guests but did spot John Wyn Roberts and Nick Vye and one or two other familiar faces.

After speaking with some of the Near East personnel we have met previously and some of the new members we made our way to sample some of the delicious canapés and hot food which had been provided, there were 2 short speeches and then some live background music to enjoy as well.

The Park Palace Hotel is very nice, situated on the outskirts of Kyrenia and within walking distance of the town and it looked very Christmassy with the colourful lights decorating the outside of the building. Nacı told us that one of his staff had been given the task of arranging the event and she had made an excellent job of it, in conjunction with the hotel, with many very nice features.

All in all this was a very pleasant couple of hours and we would like to thank Near East Bank Group for their hospitality.

Creditwest Customers get together at Di Figaro Restaurant

Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat so do spare a penny from the old mans hat!

Figen Kaymak would like to invite all Creditwest Customers to join her and the Creditwest team for a seasonal get together and drinks at the Di Figero Restaurant, Karaoglanoglu on Friday 16th December between 3 pm and 7 pm.

To help make the seasonal spirit tingle, Cyprusscene will be donating a few pennies from this old man’s hat. Ho ho ho.

The Economist 12th Cyprus Summit, Europe in peril, Cyprus in play

by Fikri Toros,……
President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce……..

Europe in peril, Cyprus in play

Distinguished guests,

On behalf of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, it is indeed an honour for me to address such a distinguished audience. I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to The Economist for the excellent organization and to John Georgoulas for giving me and President Pilides the opportunity to take part on this second consecutive year.

fikri-toros-president-of-the-turkish-cypriot-chamber-of-commerce — **Fikri Toros, President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce**

“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.” These words of Robert Schuman in his declaration made whilst laying the foundation of today’s European Union have never been more valid than now; not only for the EU itself; but also for the settlement process of the long standing Cyprus conflict.

Indeed, Europe has never faced so many serious challenges simultaneously. Slowing economies, financial inequality and unemployment, along with an unprecedented refugee crisis, not to mention the global security threat of terror, led to deep anxieties and fear amongst the citizens of Europe. This resulted in the rise of nationalism, which has been successfully capitalizing on divisive concepts of nativism, virulent nationalism, xenophobia and protectionism…

Increasingly, we are witnessing the growing support for calls to close the borders, ban immigration and revolts against economic openness. These are developments leading to a serious cause for concern as they are presenting an existential threat to the hard-earned post war liberal European values.

What should be done about it?

The discontented citizens do have legitimate concerns about the consequences of globalization such as immigration and security threat; and these concerns must be addressed. However, much of the criticism on the EU is misguided by deliberately downplaying its benefits and by overseeing the genuine causes.

The solution is not to dismantle the Union, nor is it to stop free trade; but to undertake the necessary reforms to make the EU more operational. Viable and sustainable solutions to these multi dimensional challenges can only be found by increasing the bond and cooperation amongst the member states.

In regards to free trade, which enables broad opportunities and prosperity across the world ; the right approach is to tackle the concerns of those losing out from it by adopting the appropriate policies.

Ever since the founding of the EU, member states have been benefiting enormously from the fundamental freedoms. Peace, democracy, prosperity and the world’s largest single market created should not be allowed to be taken for granted and must be promoted to the European citizens. The EU together with its values and principles must be protected irrespective of any cost. This is indispensable not only for the prosperity and security of Europe but for those of the world too.

Distinguished guests,

Much is at stake also, if the ongoing efforts to end the Cyprus Conflict fail once again, continuation of the status quo will deprive our Island and the entire vicinity of its full economic potential, defying the fundamental motives of globalisation; not to mention those of the EU. It will lead to the rise of nationalism and populism on the Island and exacerbate instability by letting the energy reserves aggravate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The two Leaders have been engaged in intensive negotiations for the last 18 months and have made significant progress. Whilst encouraging convergences on the majority of issues have been reached, there are still divergences on some others which are highly sensitive to both Communities. Nevertheless, the current momentum must be sustained and the remaining time must be utilized to find a common ground along our shared commitment.

Whilst the main onus of reaching a comprehensive settlement lies upon the two leaders, in the end it will be the two Communities who will make peace and hopefully make it last. Countries have an average 40% risk of return to conflict within the immediate decade after a peace agreement is reached. Therefore, this very challenging task cannot be left to be shouldered by politicians alone. The involvement and support of the civil society is absolutely imperative too.

Furthermore considering that the driving force of this process is predominantly economic prospects, the intersection of business and politics needs to become more increasingly developed under the direction of the two Chambers.

The primary means of global peace-promotion by business leaders is through economic development and community building. Mindful of this, we have been striving to promote economic cooperation under the prevailing state of affairs, aiming to erode the negative effects of the status quo by improving everyday living conditions and by making the economic benefits of partnership visible…

Three specific areas where I believe the two Chambers can and should deliver more;

Persistent cooperation with the Leaders towards the realization of the pending confidence building measures, such as the interoperability of mobile phone operators, the crossing of Turkish Cypriot commercial vehicles to the South, broadening of intra-island trade and the finalisation of the PDO registration of Hellim/Halloumi.

The Chambers should open a more effective channel of communication with the two Leaders and their negotiating teams. The aim of this would be to influence the required legal and regulatory framework, to become in sufficient command of the agreement to objectively prepare the business communities, and to be in a position to encourage our leaders to find a common ground on the divergences.

The Turkish Cypriot Community will not go through the typical accession negotiation process, thus the task of preparing the Turkish Cypriot economy will necessitate a tailor made procedure. In addition to the European financial aid and technical tools , KEBE’s support and assistance in the preparation of the private sector to the Acquis, will no doubt be instrumental.

Ladies and gentlemen,

All stakeholders concerned need to demonstrate their visionary and constructive leadership to empathize, compromise and take courageous steps forward to a just and viable settlement. This is a historic responsibility that we owe to our country, our people and younger generations.

As late Shimon Perez said in 2013, there are two things that cannot be made without closing your eyes,: “love and peace. If you try to make them with open eyes, you won’t get anywhere.”

Thank you for your attention; I look forward to listening to your comments and taking your questions.

********

This speech was made at the Hilton Park Nicosia Hotel, Nicosia, Cyprus on 1st November 2016 by Fikri Toros the President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce.

Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

We recently published an article “Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry” (click here to view) and we have received the following letter from Scott Kennedy of FMA – Astute Financial Management Associates Ltd which we have replicated below for the benefit of our UK expat readers wherever they may be.

Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

Effective retirement planning is more important than it ever has been as a result of pension freedom changes and an ageing population. It is absolutely essential that people have at least a basic plan in place in terms of how they will fund themselves in later life. There are an awful lot of people out there that do have a basic idea or a concept in their mind, but what they haven’t necessarily done is taken it to the level of detail below, so it’s more of an aspiration rather than a reality.

In light of this, there are three potential investment dilemmas that investors could find themselves getting caught up in if they don’t act soon.

Now versus the future

In a lot of cases, people opt for what will give them a smaller reward they can reap the benefits from immediately, rather than employ patience and receive a greater reward over the longer run. This is a particularly serious problem in today’s society due to life expectancy increasing as people find themselves in better health when they are older.

People need to look at retirement as they might have done 20 or 30 years beforehand when they were discussing how they might be able to afford a house or a wedding, for instance. That same concept that people use up to the point of retirement is something they simply need to continue to employ on an ongoing basis.

Before pension freedoms were introduced, clients only had limited options as to how their pension savings could be used to provide income throughout retirement. Now though, many more factors have to be taken into account including life expectancy, future inflation and future spending patterns. This is particularly prevalent for Expats living in Turkey, as inflation is a major concern and can have a huge impact on your living expenses and future spending power.

For a lot of people retirement is not a one-day-in-a-lifetime scenario, it’s an ongoing stage of life except the balance between work and leisure is gradually changing for them. Many Expats retire fit and healthy, and may still need, or even want to work for a period of time because, in its own way, the employment income they generate is retirement income and that salary is helping towards meeting their aspirations.

There is now a growing realisation that the state is not the only means to deliver retirement income going forward, and by itself will not deliver a level of income that will meet the needs of most people. There are of course ways for people to make up any shortfalls in their retirement income via a range of different options. These can include working, saving more and re-budgeting, or even restructuring existing savings to be more tax efficient.

Many pension experts believe the best strategy for ensuring a prosperous and happy retirement over the long term is to enlist the help of an adviser.

Visualising a long-term plan

The second dilemma, is that many clients can find it difficult to visualise how much money they will actually need in retirement and instead focus on how much money they feel they would like.

Although people think about their total savings, including pensions producing an income they want to live on, the reality is that the income people need to live on is based on their consumption.

What are you going to spend? How much you want to spend dictates how much you actually need. If we go back 15 or 20 years when there were a lot of occupational pension schemes around, the aspiration was that people worked for a company for 40 years and when they retired the target income was two-thirds of the income that they earned while working. That was deemed to be comfortable because you had the state pension on top of that and that would make up some, if not all of the difference of pre-retirement earnings.

Research from Old Mutual Wealth shows that a vast majority of clients simply settle for what they know they can achieve financially, rather than making their cash work as hard as possible. The research also found that many clients were guilty of failing to understand the ramifications from small differences in annual income and not making the most of retirement savings plan available to them.

The reality is we’re in much more of a DC [defined contribution] world where you contribute, you make investment decisions and your retirement income is going to be dependent on how much you’ve put in and how well you’ve invested. Some of that is then going to be down to market conditions at the time.

Currently market conditions are not favourable for savers either in the UK or abroad and particularly in Turkey as inflation is higher than local cash deposit rates. This is why it is important for Expats to ask themselves ‘what do we believe our expenditure will be and factor in inflation by around 10% per annum.

Thinking the unthinkable

While many people find it difficult to talk about, the issue of ill health in later life needs to be addressed and the financial implications of residential care are often brushed to one side too. Again this is a particular issue for Expats living in Turkey as they cannot rely on a state healthcare system or the UK NHS as Turkey is outside of the EU. Many Expats are not properly prepared for possible ill health, which remains the biggest risk to your finances in retirement.

We think of long-term retirement income planning as the “retirement smile” – the expenditure curve that begins with higher income needs when individuals are younger and able-bodied wanting to do the things they’ve aspired to during their working life, decreases as they become frailer and increases again when they are in need of long-term care. Because of diseases such as dementia people can be physically fit but mentally unwell, and therefore they’re going to be living a lot longer and care costs will need to be met.

Historically, thoughts of leaving the family home as a legacy for the children has been commonplace. In the future this may not be possible as it may be needed to help fund care costs in one way or another. Not taking these needs into account and using up savings too quickly may in fact have an adverse impact on your children financially as they may have to help to cover care costs.

Out of the three dilemmas, this is the issue that clients are getting more understanding of as many people have already experienced this with their own parents. It may be something that people don’t want to think about though or it could be that their financial situation is much more about living for today and letting tomorrow look after itself.

A lot of people assume that the family will take care of it, but it could be that they aren’t in the position to provide that level of care. I think it’s partly a generational thing and I think it needs to involve conversation across generations within the family as early as possible when planning income needs.

If you would like to find out more information about making better provisions for your retirement please contact us via the links below.

Scott Kennedy Cert PFS

Director

ASTUTE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES LTD

Tel: +9 (0533) 845 7296 +9 (0533 842 3598)

Email: scott@astutefma.com

Email: info@astutefma.com

Website: www.astutefma.com

Astute FMA are Independent Financial Advice Consultants & act as Financial Intermediaries ONLY.

We are not a bank, we do not accept deposits and we do not hold clients money.

Astute FMA are fully Licensed to act as Independent Financial Advice Consultants in North Cyprus.

Astute FMA are fully Licensed and Regulated by the TRNC Government. License No: MŞ11504

Moldova And Transnistria Committee Visited Creditwest Bank

The committee invited by GAU from Moldova and Transnistria paid a visit to Creditwest Bank and acquired information about the financial sector of North Cyprus.

The committee, including the director of the European Business Association, the directors from Moldova Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the project coordinator of UNDP Moldova and numerous senior officials came to the TRNC from Moldova under the program financed by Girne American University, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the EU to be closely acquainted with the banking and finance sector in North Cyprus, and also visited Creditwest Bank.

Comprehensive information regarding the financial sector was provided by Creditwest Bank during the visit that was held with the participation of Olga Sainciuc from the Association of Aid; Vladimir Didilica the director of foreign relations of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mihai Frecatel from the Business Development Association; Mariana Rufa from the European Business Association; Liviu Andriuta the director of New Generation Association; Elena Bobkova from New Generation Association; Vitaliy Yankovskiy the director of the Regional Development Committee; Ruslan Slobodenyuk from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Evghenya Evstigneeva from the Business Development Association; Vasile Cojan the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Galina Popik from Intereconom Service Company; Igor Gorashov, International Trust and Development Expert and Angela Frunze the UNDP Project Coordinator.

ZAHEER: CYPRUS IS THE SAFEST INVESTMENT ZONE OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

The Deputy General Manager responsible for Treasury, Foreign Trade and Marketing, Mr. Mazhar Zaheer provided comprehensive information on the financial sector and stated that Cyprus is the safest investment zone of the Eastern Mediterranean. Zaheer, also underlined the significant advantages of North Cyprus regarding the tourism, education and financial sectors and the importance of using these advantages strategically to develop the economy of North Cyprus.

The Deputy General Manager responsible for Treasury, Foreign Trade and Marketing, Mr. Mazhar Zaheer expressed that one of the most important issues regarding investment is the commercial legal infrastructure, and especially in North Cyprus, there are many things to be done in this respect. Mr. Zaheer indicated the need for opportunities and incentives which will attract foreign investors to our country in terms of establishing, merging and liquidating companies.

Finally, Mr. Zaheer stated that; as Creditwest Bank, they always keep their doors open for investors, and as the senior management, evaluate the new projects with enthusiasm.

For more information of Creditwest Bank please click here

Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

We recently published an article “Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017” (click here to view) and we have received the following letter from Scott Kennedy of FMA – Astute Financial Management Associates Ltd which we have replicated below for the benefit of our UK expat readers wherever they may be.

Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

Every effort is made to handle pension savers with care, but once they hit retirement they are on their own. Once you can exercise pensions freedom, what next?

Retirees are being “thrown to the retail wolves” – left to fend for themselves as soon as they walk out of the door on the last day of work. While workers in the accumulation stage of retirement saving are treated with kid gloves, once you have access to your pension pot it is all hard sell and product pushing. “When you are saving for retirement, all the information you receive is done with a light touch. It is gentle, low cost and takes advantage of inertia,” says Nigel Aston, head of defined contribution for State Street Global Advisors. “But once you retire you are thrown to the retail wolves.

The industry is in your face, heavy handed, high charge and advice driven.” Aston says that this approach may have suited the old guard; those retiring before April last year before pension freedoms activated, but it was not suitable for the masses. “Before last year, 90% of retirees bought an annuity. The only people who had to navigate the post-retirement world of investment were the 10% who could afford a good adviser,” he said. “Now, only 10% of people buy an annuity at retirement, and the remaining 90% are ill-equipped to deal with the onslaught.

The industry needs to adapt to the new breed of customer.” Aston said that the post-retirement needed to better match pre-retirement – a gentle attitude, where doing nothing still gets you results, with a mass-mentality of being “all in it together”. He cites Target Date Funds – which allow pension scheme members to stay invested post retirement, with money managed in a pool alongside other individuals who retired the same year – as one example of the industry getting it right. “I don’t think we will ever get to a point where everyone will be able to, or even want to make major investment decision for themselves,” he said. “It is not right for people to have to DIY retirement investing, they should be able to easily outsource to a professional.”

Technology Lags Product Innovation Dan Kemp, speaking at the Morningstar Perils in Pensions debate this week said that even where financial services had innovated to help meet the needs of investors in retirement, technology was restricting their impact. Kemp, who is chief investment officer of Morningstar Investment Management said that online investment platforms were not set up to pay income monthly to investors – something particularly needed in retirement. “We run multi-asset portfolios with the income investor in mind, but without the platforms putting the distribution channels in place we are unable to deliver the yield to investors,” he said.

“How can product providers innovate if the infrastructure does not keep up?”

If you would like to find out more information about how you can manage your UK Pension please contact us via the links below.

Scott Kennedy Cert PFS

Director

ASTUTE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES LTD

Tel: +9 (0533) 845 7296 +9 (0533 842 3598)

Email: scott@astutefma.com

Email: info@astutefma.com

Website: www.astutefma.com

Astute FMA are Independent Financial Advice Consultants & act as Financial Intermediaries ONLY.

We are not a bank, we do not accept deposits and we do not hold clients money.

Astute FMA are fully Licensed to act as Independent Financial Advice Consultants in North Cyprus.

Astute FMA are fully Licensed and Regulated by the TRNC Government. License No: MŞ11504

Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

We have received the following letter from Scott Kennedy of FMA – Astute Financial Management Associates Ltd and have replicated it below for the benefit of our UK expat readers wherever they may be, so they may consider if this financial opportunity is of benefit to them.

Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

The UK Government has confirmed plans to allow pensioners to sell their income-paying annuities for cash lump sums. More than five million pensioners who bought annuities will be able to swap their guaranteed income for a cash lump sum from April 2017, the Treasury has recently confirmed.

The move to create a new “secondary annuity market” is an extension of the Government’s landmark pension freedoms first announced in 2014, and applying from April 2015. Now the Government has said that from April 6, 2017, tax restrictions for people looking to sell their annuity will be removed, giving pensioners with an existing annuity – and anyone who purchases an annuity in the future – the ability to sell it on for cash.

Currently someone wanting to sell an annuity to a willing buyer would face a tax charge of up to 70%. The government will scrap this, so people are taxed only at their (UK) marginal rate of income tax. The move will be beneficial for those who can swap small or negligible annuity payments for a single lump sum. But critics have pointed out numerous risks, and warn that giving up the right to a guaranteed income could be a dangerous step, hence why pensioners should seek professional independent financial advice first.

Sell your pension? How it would work

It’s been the dream of many an unhappy annuity buyer: sell the policy back to the insurer for a cash lump sum. And now the Government wants to make it a reality. It sounds a simple and attractive idea, but there are complexities. How could you be sure you were getting a good price for your annuity? And how much tax would you have to pay? We look at how such a market would work in practice.

How much would I get for my annuity if I sold it on this new market?

Under current proposals, the annuity would continue to exist after you sold it in the second-hand market. Payment would be reassigned to the new owner and the pension would continue to pay out until you – not the new owner – died. We can’t be sure how much your annuity would fetch in these circumstances. But one possibility is that the annuity would be worth whatever it would cost someone of your age and life expectancy to buy the same annual income for life that you currently receive from the policy.

However, the new buyer would probably prefer an annuity that lasted until his or her death, rather than yours. Therefore, he is likely to expect a discount for the “second-hand” annuity. He might also expect you to take a medical to confirm your good health. And the firm that carries out the transaction would expect a cut. If the second-hand annuity’s value is based on that of a new one, it would clearly depend on the factors that influence annuity rates at that time. These include the interest paid on government bonds (gilts). If you bought when annuity rates were higher, it means gilts were cheaper then, so your annuity should fetch more now.

If there was no buyer for my annuity, couldn’t the insurer just buy it back?

This is another possibility. Any annuity carries risk for an insurer because it doesn’t know when you will die and therefore how much money it will pay out in total. If a particular insurer thinks it has taken on too much risk, it could reduce it by buying back annuities. For the policyholder, the question is what price is offered. Experts said insurers would want a discount, perhaps 20%, on the true value of the annuity. But what is that true value? It depends on your life expectancy at the time you want to sell. If your health has deteriorated since you bought the annuity, its value will be lower, reflecting the fact that it is likely to pay out for less time than originally expected. Because of this, you would probably have to have a medical check-up before you got a trade-in value for your annuity.

What could go wrong?

As mentioned above, the problem for a buyer of your annuity is that payments will cease on your death, not theirs. How many people will want an income that could end at any time? This could severely dent prospects for the new market and make second-hand prices unappealing. It’s possible that individual annuities could be bundled together and sold to institutional investors to get round this problem. There are also practical problems. There will need to be a mechanism by which the original insurer is informed of the death of the first owner of the annuity so that it can stop the payments. It’s possible that these problems could be overcome if insurers were prepared to link payments to the new owner’s death rather than the original owner’s, assuming similar life expectancy.

If I sold my annuity, how much tax would I have to pay?

The sale would probably be treated in the same way as accessing your whole pension in one go under the pension freedoms that take effect in April. In other words, the money will be treated as income and taxed at your “marginal” or highest rate.

If you would like to find out more information about how you can cash in your UK Pension Annuity please contact:

Scott Kennedy Cert PFS

Director

ASTUTE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES LTD

Tel: +9 (0533) 845 7296 +9 (0533 842 3598)

Email: scott@astutefma.com

Email: info@astutefma.com

Website: www.astutefma.com

Astute FMA are Independent Financial Advice Consultants & act as Financial Intermediaries ONLY.

We are not a bank, we do not accept deposits and we do not hold clients money.

Astute FMA are fully Licensed to act as Independent Financial Advice Consultants in North Cyprus.

Astute FMA are fully Licensed and Regulated by the TRNC Government. License No: MŞ11504

Paying income tax on TRNC rented properties

By Chris Elliott……

How many expats realise that if they own a property in Northern Cyprus and rent it to another person that they have to register a contract with the local taxation office and pay the appropriate tax against rental income received by making a monthly payment or if they wish, pay in advance.

They will be required to present a copy of the rental contract and tax will be charged as a percentage of the agreed rental fee whether it be Pounds Sterling or Turkish Lira. Tax must be paid in the currency shown on the contract. Once agreed tax will be charged at that rate unless a new contract is registered.

When the contract has expired and a new contract has been made this has to be registered each time. Failure to register on the due date could result in a fine based upon the length of time that the contract has lapsed.

For those people who wish to rent they should note that the contract they agree to is also required to be presented as proof of place of residence when applying for residency in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

For those local readers or those off-shore readers who wish to register to pay taxes to the TRNC authorities on rented properties click here to view and download the appropriate English language registration form.

For more information we suggest our readers email info@maliye.gov.ct.tr as this contact information is shown on the attached form.

Türk Eximbank And Creditwest Bank Offer Support To Foreign Trade to North Cyprus

Türk Eximbank and Creditwest Bank Offer Support to Foreign Trade to North Cyprus

For those living in North Cyprus or those people who are interested in seeing it develop and prosper, then the following news no doubt will be of great interest.

Türk Eximbank has introduced a credit line to a Turkish Cypriot Bank for the first time to be utilised for the imports carried out from Turkey.

With the cooperation protocol signed between Creditwest Bank and Eximbank, it will be possible to provide loans on easy terms to import goods from Turkey. The relevant cooperation protocol has been signed by the General Manager of Eximbank, Hayrettin Kaplan and the General Manager of Creditwest Bank, Dr. Süleyman Erol. With this loan agreement, made for the first time with a local bank in North Cyprus, the advance payment obligations of importers will be eliminated and through the loan offers provided to importers with lower costs the financing costs will be reduced. With this agreement Eximbank will provide low- cost loans for the importers that import Turkish origin products.

EROL: A special offer for local importers.

TürkEximbank is a state-owned bank aiming to increase the foreign trade and has been acting as Turkey’s official import-export incentive instrument since 1987. About the loan agreement, Dr. Süleyman Erol stated that “Türk Eximbank, has a leading role in increasing the export activities of Turkey via its export activities in Central and Western Asian Republics, Russia, in Eastern Europe and African countries, and we will benefit from this experience to develop the import volume of North Cyprus. Furthermore, the strong financial structure of Creditwest Bank and the high credit ratings received in the last 5 years had a great influence on this cooperation.”

For more information of Creditwest bank click here to view their website.

General Manager of Creditwest Bank, Dr. Süleyman Erol and General Manager of Eximbank, Hayrettin Kaplan

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Finance

Mazher Zaheer Takes Over The Torch At Creditwest Bank

The Path To General Manager Position From Bank Official

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Near East Bank Expat Christmas Soirée

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Creditwest Customers get together at Di Figaro Restaurant

Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat so do spare a penny from the old mans hat!

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The Economist 12th Cyprus Summit, Europe in peril, Cyprus in play

by Fikri Toros,……
President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce……..

Europe in peril, Cyprus in play

********

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Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

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Moldova And Transnistria Committee Visited Creditwest Bank

Moldova And Transnistria Committee Visited Creditwest Bank

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Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

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Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

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Paying income tax on TRNC rented properties

Paying income tax on TRNC rented properties

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Türk Eximbank And Creditwest Bank Offer Support To Foreign Trade to North Cyprus

Türk Eximbank and Creditwest Bank Offer Support to Foreign Trade to North Cyprus

Türk Eximbank has introduced a credit line to a Turkish Cypriot Bank for the first time to be utilised for the imports carried out from Turkey.

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Finance

The Path To General Manager Position From Bank Official

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Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat so do spare a penny from the old mans hat!

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by Fikri Toros,…… President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce……..

Europe in peril, Cyprus in play

********

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Like this:

Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

Three dilemmas every investor needs to address sooner rather than later

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Like this:

Moldova And Transnistria Committee Visited Creditwest Bank

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Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

Investors Post Retirement Abandoned by Pensions Industry

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Like this:

Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

Swap your UK pension for cash from April 2017

Share this:

Like this:

Paying income tax on TRNC rented properties

Share this:

Like this:

Türk Eximbank and Creditwest Bank Offer Support to Foreign Trade to North Cyprus

Türk Eximbank has introduced a credit line to a Turkish Cypriot Bank for the first time to be utilised for the imports carried out from Turkey.

Share this:

Like this:

by Fikri Toros,……
President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce……..