Bank of Cyprus lists in London

LONDON: Bank of Cyprus said its listing on the London Stock Exchange Thursday shows it has successfully recovered from 2013’s financial crisis, weeks after repaying a 11.4-billion-euro bailout.

The listing of Cyprus’ largest lender is expected to provide the bank with a wider range of investors and improve its liquidity.

Josef Ackerman, head of Bank of Cyprus Holdings, said in a statement that Thursday’s move was “another significant step” in the bank’s transformation from deeply troubled institution to solvent lender.

“We expect this listing, on one of the world’s leading international capital markets, to facilitate greater profile, liquidity and access to capital,” he said.

In March 2013, Cyprus clinched a 10-billion-euro loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to bail out its troubled economy and oversized banking system.

Under the terms of the deal, the government was required to close the island’s second-largest bank, Laiki, and impose a 47.5 per cent haircut on deposits above 100,000 euros at Bank of Cyprus.

The bank has since undergone major restructuring, which included absorbing the good assets of the former Laiki Bank and selling assets.

Earlier this month it said it had paid back in full 11.4 billion euros (US$12 billion) of emergency funding in what it said was a “significant milestone” in its recovery. — AFP