My corporate contact tells me that just over $1M of my hedge fund client funds coming in from middle east + some of my own deposits that were transiting through Bank of Cyprus has been lost. The bank just raided the depositor accounts to stay solvent. I was keeping up with what was happening in Cyrpus. But it was never about Bank of Cyprus (a well respected financial institution with significant presence in London and UK.). It was always the other Cyprus banks in trouble before I got an email from my contact. My corporate contact per this email tells me that even if I try to hire a lawyer and fight for the deposit funds, I would be throwing good money after bad. How in the world can this people get their hands on the depositor accounts? The equity and the bond holders are the ones that should be taking the hit on loan losses. What recourse do I have, and is it worth fighting for it? Should I fly out to Cyprus and stay in front of the banks, will that help? How can I get my money back?
Working the phones and staying well into the night, I was just informed that a part of my deposits would be converted to shares in a newly capitalized Bank of Cyprus. At least it wasn't a total loss.
I see your misery and suffer for you NOT. Bank of Cyprus a respectable institution? Are you kidding me? I was actually wishing for a much larger hair cut. Finally no more Northern European tax payers' support. Congratulations!!! Depositors should be on the hook (beyond any insured deposits) for every last penny like in EVERY ENTERPRISE AND INVESTMENT IN THIS WORLD. You take risk you have to suffer the consequences. I do not know of a single reputable hedge fund who would have parked their money in Cyprus or with any Cyprus bank. You could as well send it North Korea. Good luck though with recouping your losses. Unfortunately I am not feeling sorry for you!!!
Bank of Cyprus is an intermediary bank that I use for transferring foreign funds coming into the United States. I don't hold significant long term deposits there. And for that reason, I felt Bank of Cyprus was reputable enough to serve as an intermediary financial institution for my foreign investor fund transfer needs. Anyway, I haven't lost any of my deposits. Only that the deposits would be converted into Bank of Cyprus shares. Me and my investors are proud owners of some well capitalized Bank of Cyprus shares. With some short term liquidity issues, I could live with that.
I am aware that this may be another April 1 joke, but just commenting on this part: The original equity and bond holders did take the first hit. They are down to zero so next they go to the uninsured depositors. That exact same process has taken place in the U.S. when the FDIC takes over (usually small) insolvent banks. Uninsured deposits have been lost many times in such cases. Uninsured is uninsured. The probably insolvency of Bank of Cyprus has been in the news for a long time. Despite the name, it is a private bank, not a government sponsored entity.
I never knew about deposit accounts ever being in doubt in a bank restructuring situation. Now on, I will take the deposit insurance amounts more seriously and spread the funds around as much as possible.
Ladies and gentleman counterparty risk is real. And to regard any Cypriot bank as being a reasonable counterparty is simply lunacy. The handwriting was not on the wall they were writing it on your eyeballs. No one over the age of 15 should have been screwed in this deal. You had two years to close the accounts. Two freakin' years warning!!