YEREVAN, March 26, /ARKA/. The chairman of the Bank of Cyprus, Andreas Artemis, has filed his resignation, local news agencies reported. Earlier today Cyprus’ Central Bank has confirmed that all Cypriot banks will remain closed until Thursday, RBC reported citing BBC.
The Cyprus News Agency said Artemis’ resignation would go before the board later Tuesday. Cyprus only just secured a 11th-hour bailout deal from the EU, European Central Bank and the IMF early Monday to stave off bankruptcy.
A senior European Central Bank (ECB) official denied on Tuesday that the controversial levy on deposits – seen by many as ‘daylight robbery’ – could be used as a template for other eurozone bailouts.
Small depositors of under €100,000 have been largely spared, but deposits of more than €100,000 face losing potentially 30-40% in a bank levy. Cyprus’ second largest bank, Laiki is to be split into a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bank. The country’s largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, is being heavily restructured.
Earlier today the ratings agency Fitch downgraded the two biggest Cypriot banks to default category and placed the third biggest on negative watch following the announcement of a financial rescue plan for the eurozone country. For the biggest, the Bank of Cyprus, Fitch cut its long- and short-term ratings by one notch from “B” to “Restricted Default” owing to “losses imposed on senior creditors” as part of a restructuring plan for the bank.
For number two Laiki, also known as Cyprus Popular Bank, Fitch cut its ratings from “B” to “Default” because in addition to the planned losses, the bank is to be completely wound down, with healthy assets and insured deposits transferred to the Bank of Cyprus and the rest placed in a “bad bank” to be dissolved over time. -0-
