Future of Markets: Cyprus’ Economic and Capital Markets Outlook

Irene Piki is the Deputy Minister to the President since 1^st March 2023. She studied Economics in the UK, (BSc Regional Science – Economics and Human Geography) at the University of Reading, followed by an MSc on Environmental and Natural Resources Economics at University College London (UCL). She was employed in the public service of the Republic of Cyprus as a career technocrat from 1997 to 2023, at various posts with a wide range portfolio, which includes issues relating to the economy, environment, regional policy, reforms and investments, as well as European issues. In September 2019 she took over as Head of the Strategy, Coordination and Communication Directorate at the Ministry of Finance. In March 2021 she was promoted to Director of Finance and in October 2022 she became the Director of Economic Policy and European Affairs. She has served as member of the Board of Directors of Invest Cyprus (CIPA), the Research and Innovation Foundation, the Cyprus Organization for Standardization, as well as the Cyprus Economy and Competitiveness Council. She has also represented Cyprus in various EU Committees relating to economic and cohesion policy issues.

Dr. George Theocharides (BΕng (Hons), MBA, PhD) is the Chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). He is also the Chairman of the Risk Standing Committee (RSC). The RSC is part of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the successor of Committee for the Economic and Markets Analysis (CEMA), for which Dr. Theocharides served also as Chairman, between March and December 2022.
He served as CySEC’s Vice Chairman from July 2020 to September 2021 and was previously a CySEC Board member. He has extensive experience working in the wider financial sector. From September 2010 until July 2020, he held the position of Associate Finance Professor at the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and Director of the MSc in Financial Services Programme.
Prior to joining CIIM, he worked as an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Sungkyunkwan University of South Korea from 2006 to 2010. In 2006, he also worked as an International Faculty Fellow at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In the past, he served as a member of the Interim Board of Bank of Cyprus and Chairman of the Board of the Cyprus Blockchain Technologies Ltd, among others.

Constantin M. Cotzias is European Director at Bloomberg L.P.  He is Global Head of International External Relations for Bloomberg L.P., Chairman of Bloomberg Tradebook, and a Board Director of Bloomberg Multilateral Trading Facility Ltd, Bloomberg Index Services and Bloomberg Data Reporting Services.

He sits on the Mayor of London Economic Advisory Board and sat on the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council in 2018 and the Chancellors Advisory Council in 2020. He was previously CEO of Bloomberg’s legal and regulatory news and research division. He joined Bloomberg in 2001 as Chief Counsel.

Prior to Bloomberg, Cotzias was a senior mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Denton Wilde Sapte (presently known as Dentons), one of the United Kingdom’s largest law firms, where he advised on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and IPOs across industries including media, telecoms, technology, and energy. From 1998-2000, he was Chief Counsel of Denton Wilde Sapte’s Moscow office.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Modern History and Politics and is a Law graduate from the London School of Economics (University of London). He earned honours in the English Law Society Final Examinations and is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Alex Kantarovich, Head of Research, is a seasoned finance professional with a robust background in equity research and investment strategy. Alex’s career spans over two decades, including more than ten years at J.P. Morgan, where he served as Research Director. He is recognized for his strategic acumen and has been instrumental in major IPOs and market strategies, and highly ranked by Institutional Investor and Extel.

Fiona Mullen has been providing granular economic, energy and political analysis to prestigious international audiences for well over 25 years. She founded Sapienta Economics Ltd in 2006 and is the author of the flagship monthly Sapienta Country Analysis Cyprus. Clients include oil and gas majors, big four accounting firms, institutional investors, banks, international institutions and more than a dozen embassies. Mullen is a registered holder of the Advanced Exam Certificate of CySEC, Cyprus’ financial regulator. She is often called upon by international media to comment on economic, energy or political issues. Mullen is independent, with no ties to any government or political parties in Cyprus or abroad, and she holds no investments in Cypriot shares or bonds. Since 2008 Mullen has advised the UN on efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, serving both as a consultant on economic, energy and property issues and as an international staff member in 2009-10.

Ioannis Petri is the founder and Managing Director of Athlos Capital, the leading investment firm in Cyprus and the firm behind the fintech platform Sophic. He began his career in 2007 in London on the Credit Hybrids and Exotics team of a leading global investment bank, before returning to Cyprus in 2009 to establish and lead the Investment Services division of a private bank.

In 2016, he founded Athlos Capital, leveraging his deep fixed income expertise to develop a cutting-edge wealth management platform. He holds a BA in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Financial Risk Management from the ICMA Centre at the University of Reading.

Viktoria Dendrinou is the Athens Bureau Chief for Bloomberg News, overseeing coverage from Greece and Cyprus. Prior to this, she covered US economy and the Treasury Department from Washington and the European Union from Brussels. She was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, where she also obtained an MBA. She holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and an MSc in Economics from University College London.

Femi is is Head of Enterprise Sales for Türkiye, Greece, Cyprus & Malta at Bloomberg L.P., leading the firm’s enterprise product, data and e-trading businesses spanning Fixed Income, FX and Commodities for their client base. Across nearly two decades at Bloomberg, he has held successive regional leadership roles in Europe, Middle East and Africa managing the terminal, risk-analytics and electronic-trading portfolios before assuming his current post in 2023. Femi earned an MSc in Finance and Investment from Bayes Business School and has worked in both the UK and UAE. He is known for mentoring diverse sales teams, applying data-driven performance frameworks and cultivating long-term client partnerships.