The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), within the framework of its established annual university student awards initiative, has once again awarded monetary prizes with a total value of €1,000, to two university students for the best studies in the fields of Finance and Securities Markets for the academic year 2025–2026.
Through this initiative, CySEC seeks to recognise and reward excellence, research effort and innovative thinking among young academics, while also strengthening the link between the academic community and the financial sector, especially with regards to matters relating to the capital markets.
The awards are presented annually in memory of the first Chairman of CySEC, the late Frixos Sorokos, who played a pivotal role in the establishment and development of the Supervisory Authority.
For the academic year 2025–2026, the awards were presented to Xenia Efthymiou, a student at the Cyprus University of Technology, for her doctoral dissertation entitled 'Bail-In a Generation: BRRD’s Legacy Unveiled – The Case of Cyprus', and to Ioannis Moraitis, a student at the University of Nicosia, for his postgraduate study entitled 'A Comparative Analysis of AI-Themed ETFs vs. Actively Managed Mutual Funds: Performance, Risk, and Cost'. Each award recipient received a monetary prize of €500.
The award to Efthymiou was presented by the Vice-Chairman of CySEC, Panikkos Vakkou, in the presence of Kaiti Sorokou, wife of the late Frixos Sorokos. The presentation took place during the Graduation Ceremony of the Cyprus University of Technology, on 16 June.
The award to Moraitis was received on his behalf by Dr Petros Lois, Head of the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance of the School of Business of the University of Nicosia.
