The fourth quarter of 2014, as well as the first two quarters of 2015 have proven to be economically challenging for Cyprus-based financial services firms that have an international sales focus, since thegeneral industry is highly dependent on the Russian economy. The western sanctions that have been imposed on certain Russian state-owned companies and politically linked individuals as well as the decline of commodity and, specifically, oil prices have inadvertently affected the Russian economy.

In effect, such Cyprus-based financial services firms, including Meritkapital, have moved proactively to widen their geographical client markets and respective rendered services.

MeritKapital's investment service extension to underwriting is an example of one such service diversification pursuit.

In turn, CySEC has been encouraging its regulated investment firms to build stronger business models by growing their respective client pools and product offerings. This will better shield firms' sales streams from such unforeseen economic and geopolitical events.

Source: Financial Mirror