Off the wire
• Roundup: Wave of suicide bomb attacks hit Iraq, as security forces repel 3 IS attacks  • Feature: China hailed for help in tackling Vietnam's drought  • Bratislava commemorates 71st anniversary of liberation in WWII  • Catalan leader says not attempt to declare independence during mandate  • Egyptian policeman shot dead by unknown militants near Cairo  • 250 U.S. troops begin 40-day joint drill in Bulgaria  • Namibia launches anti-human trafficking project  • Iran ready to help settle Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: minister  • EU begins returning migrants in Greece to Turkey  • Jordan says to increase cooperation with Iraq  
You are here: 　 Home

Bank of Cyprus to list premium shares on LSE by year end: official

Xinhua, April 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Bank of Cyprus, the lender at the center of a 2013 controversial bailout, is expecting its shares to be listed in the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by the end of the year, a bank official said on Monday.

Finance Director Christakis Patsalides told state radio in an interview that the listing would be considered as the turning point for the lender.

"It would be a signal that one of the world's main stock markets considers Bank of Cyprus as a strong and viable financial institution," he added.

Patsalides indicated during that the London Stock Exchange has already approved the bank's papers, and that formalities and technical issues will be completed within months.

He said that this is not a small feat, having in mind that Bank of Cyprus was under resolution only three years ago after being forced to become the first bank in the world to recapitalize by seizing 47.5 percent of large deposits over 100,000 euros (113,830 U.S. dollars) and turning the cash into equity.

In doing so, the lender wiped out 3.9 billion euros of deposits overnight.

It also had to absorb the operations of now defunct Cyprus Popular Bank along with its 11.2-billion-euro European Central Bank Emergency Liquidity Assistance.

Bank of Cyprus shares will continue to be listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

"But we thought that the London Stock Exchange would be the best outlet for our shareholders," said Patsalides.

The lenders shareholders include U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and several Russian former depositors-turned owners.

Bank of Cyprus had to recapitalize twice, raising 1 billion euros from overseas investors and passed European Central Bank stress tests in October 2014, despite raising its provisions for delinquent loans by 50 percent.

Patsalides said that non-performing loans are still a big headache but they no longer are considered to be a danger. Endit