The Central Bank of Cyprus has issued an amending directive on the procedures for granting new credit facilities and reviewing existing ones, published in Friday’s Official Gazette of the Republic.
The directive is titled the 2026 amending directive on the Procedures for Granting New and Reviewing Existing Credit Facilities and will be read together with the relevant directives issued from 2016 to 2023. Together, they will be referred to as the Procedures for Granting New and Reviewing Existing Credit Facilities Directives of 2016 to 2026.
Under the amendment, once a secured credit facility is fully repaid, the related collateral must be released immediately. The exception concerns collateral secured by a mortgage on immovable property, for which the deadline set out in the Transfer and Mortgage of Immovable Property Laws of 1965 to 2025, as amended or replaced from time to time, will apply.
Where applicable, the title deed must also be returned to the borrower or to the holder of the collateral.
The provisions do not apply where the mortgagor has given written consent for the mortgage on immovable property not to be cancelled. If that consent is later withdrawn in writing, the mortgagee must arrange for the cancellation of the mortgage within the timeframe provided by the relevant property transfer and mortgage laws, starting from the date of the written withdrawal.
The directive also provides that any costs for valuations carried out during the process of reviewing credit facilities will be borne by the credit institution, unless the loan agreement states otherwise.
