The Cyprus Institute of Directors & Corporate Governance (CyIoDCG) has officially launched its activities to great success, marking the establishment of a new professional body set to become a reference point for excellence in directorship and modern corporate governance in Cyprus.
The Monday, 9 March 2026 event took place at the Auditorium of the Bank of Cyprus Corporate Headquarters in Nicosia, in the presence of members of the business community, board directors, senior executives and representatives of institutional organisations.
The keynote speaker was Professor Ludo Van der Heyden, Chaired Professor Emeritus in Corporate Governance at INSEAD and Distinguished Scholar at IMD. In his address titled 'Why Governance Matters Always. The Role of Directors,' Professor Van der Heyden, among other things, highlighted the critical role of corporate governance in both times of growth and periods of crisis.
During the event, the vision and strategic direction of CyIoDCG were presented by CyloDCG chair Kyriacos Kokkinos, former Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, and CyloDCG vice-chair Demetra Kalogerou, former chair at the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), along with the Institute’s Directors’ Certification & Development Programme, which aims to strengthen the skills, strategic judgement and institutional competence of board members and senior executives.
As well as Van der Heyden's keynote speech, meanwhile, there were also addresses by Christiana Erotokritou, Chairwoman, House Finance Committee, Dr George Theocharides, Chairman, CySEC, Irene Piki, Deputy Minister to the President and Eleni Neocleous, Chief Compliance Officer, Bank of Cyprus.
There was also a panel discussion featuring Van der Heyden, Dinos Lefkaritis, Chief Executive Officer, Petrolina (Holdings) Public Ltd and John Georgoulas, Non-Executive Director, ECOMMBX LTD. It was moderated by Cleopatra Kitti, Member, Board of Directors, CyIoDCG, Certified Independent Director, IDP-C, INSEAD.
A fruitful Q&A session and networking opportunity followed.
Watch the video below to learn more about the event and see and hear what Van der Heyden, Erotokritou, Kalogerou and Kokkinos had to say about the CyIoDCG and the importance of corporate governance.
