Citywealth Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Marios Souroullas, KENDRIS (Cyprus)

Date: 12 Mar 2025

Karen Jones

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Marios Souroullas, director in Private Clients at KENDRIS (Cyprus).

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

As a director in Private Clients, I am team leader of the accounting and investment reporting team in Larnaca, specializing in bookkeeping of client entities in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.

I was one of the first employees to join KENDRIS Cyprus in November 2017, joining Sara Gunnervik to set-up of the fully-fledged office of KENDRIS in Larnaca, Cyprus. In 2018, we successfully had an “Administrative Service Provider” licence by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My day begins with a refreshing early morning walk at the Larnaca salt lake. After that, I have brief morning calls with the team to set the day’s priorities. Client meetings are top priority, and I make sure to monitor progress on deliverables daily, adapting quickly to any new client requests. Personal meetings with prospective clients are a daily occurrence, either face-to-face or digitally, to understand their challenges and offer tailored solutions.

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions/requests you have received.

Recently I had some fascinating discussions with prospective clients who are looking to set up structures to hold multiple types of assets in many jurisdictions, while maintaining their individual tax residency in one country. One of the biggest challenges is to always meet the tax residency rules in the jurisdiction which they choose to be tax resident in. At the same time, to ensure that they do not become tax resident in any other country. Adding to that, managing succession planning complexities of assets owned outside of the structure can prove challenging.

To ensure certainty in efficiently managing assets of many individuals, residing in various parts of the world, individuals may decide to hold their assets under an entity.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you helping your clients to overcome them?

Clients must navigate the ever-changing regulatory and tax landscape in the various jurisdictions in which they operate. For some, changing the jurisdictions through which they operate, and to further structure away succession planning concerns, solves a lot of problems. Individuals may consider physically relocating themselves to Cyprus and establishing their business on the island. Through our digital solutions, we will provide customized expert accounting and CFO services, which will help businesses optimise finances, maximise free cashflow and drive smart business decisions, all with real time insights.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

Proud to have established KENDRIS in Larnaca, the hometown where I was raised, and to have grown Cyprus to become one of the largest offices of KENDRIS, all within the first 7 years.

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

A leader is characterised by humility and should actively seek feedback from their peers, at all levels. Being self-aware and constantly challenging themselves to do better, leaders must be agile and ready to lead forwards, because failure to do so will only lead backwards. Always be empathetic towards other colleagues’ challenges and remember to always be kind.

Who do you most admire and why?

Throughout my life, I always admired my father, who rebuilt a business against all odds and in impossible circumstances in Cyprus during the 1970’s. has always guided me through the difficulties of life, offering words of wisdom. Most notably, I learned to not ever “put myself up on a pedestal”, and to always be humble when others do so on my behalf.

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

During my last trip to Italy for pleasure, I visited Milan, Modena, Florence, and Bologna. The contrasting differences of each different place left me in awe of the beauty that is Italy.

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

In another life I would be a photographer, traveling the world and taking pictures.

How do you relax after a long day?

After a long day, I like to relax with my wife and dog in our home, or to grab a beer with friends at the local pub.