The country's two biggest banks, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, are believed to be reliant on Emergency Liquidity Assistance provided by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
They offer the OKPAY Debit Card which is issued by CSC24Seven.com Limited, a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Cyprus to issue cards.
Both Bank of Cyprus and another big bank, Laiki, are believed to be reliant on the ECB's Emergency Liquidity Assistance, provided via the Central Bank of Cyprus.
The Central Bank of Cyprus says that Alvarez and Marsal are now investigating Laiki too - Cyprus's second largest bank, which is being wound up and folded into Bank of Cyprus.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus on whose watch this disastrous concentration of risk was accumulated was Anathasios Orphanides, now among the most vocal of those leveling accusations of blackmail.
Some 18 per cent of the deposits held in Cypriot banks by residents of other eurozone countries were pulled out in February, according to figures published on Thursday by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
Starting after Cyprus clinched its original bailout deal in the early hours of March 16, the Central Bank of Cyprus blocked all fund transfers out of the country except those it specifically approved, according to senior euro-zone officials.
Where a bank is unable to pay its deposits, the relevant decision is adopted by the Central Bank of Cyprus or, where a member bank is incorporated in a country outside the Republic of Cyprus, by the competent supervisory authority of the country of incorporation.
The only question is whether Nicosia tries to stem the pace of deposit flight by imposing capital controls or whether the ECB allows the Central Bank of Cyprus to relax its collateral rules sufficiently to permit it to provide unlimited Emergency Liquidity Assistance to a recapitalized banking sector.
Participation in the DPS is compulsory for all banks authorised by the Central Bank of Cyprus, i.e. banks incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus, including their branches in other countries, and the Cyprus branches of foreign banks, incorporated outside the Republic of Cyprus or the Member-States of the European Union.
"We will have a program of support for Cyprus by Monday, " central bank governor Panicos Demetriades said as he left a meeting with the country's president and political party leaders.
The European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and Cyprus announced an immediate and surprise tax of 6.75% to 9.95% on savings accounts that will be withdrawn on Tuesday morning (Monday is a holiday in Cyprus).
FORBES: Cyprus Surprise Savings Tax. Europe's Core Problems Back to the Front Burner.
Providing unlimited liquidity to Cyprus would expose the European Central Bank's balance sheet to risk, particularly if Cyprus does end up crashing out of the euro.
At a news conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he didn't see the recent stock-market gains as out of line with historical patterns and underscored the central bank's commitment to monitoring developments in Cyprus.
应用推荐