Banks in Cyprus have received positive news from Germany with regards to the first indications of how the island’s biggest financial institutions will cope with the upcoming ‘stress tests’.

The main issues faced by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe were discussed during the 3rd SME Assembly that took place in Naples, Italy, from October 1 to 3, 2014.

American entrepreneur Wilbur Ross described former Deutsche Bank boss Josef Ackermann, whom he has just nominated as chairman for the Bank of Cyprus, as being “uniquely positioned” to lead the bank in tackling strategic issues.

The Council of Ministers approved the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the sector of energy between Cyprus and Jordan.

Another fundraising deal was recently concluded by the Cyprus Business Angels Network, with several of its members investing in a promising Cypriot start-up.

Hong Kong-based Fleet Management Ltd., the fourth biggest shipmanagement company in the world, plans to expand its Cyprus operations by enhancing its Cyprus subsidiary FML Ship Management.

The number of company registrations was up for the seventh straight month in September 2014, reports said recently.

Major shareholder in Bank of Cyprus (BoC) Wilbur Ross is confident that the Cypriot economy holds great growth potential.

ENI-KOGAS are continuing their operations normally within offshore Block 9 and do not anticipate that their drilling schedule will in any way be affected by the latest Turkish moves.

Cyprus’ economy will shrink in 2014 by less than first thought, the island’s public debt management agency said recently, revising its forecast to a 3% contraction in output from an earlier estimate of 3.5%.