EU summit sparks run on Cyprus banks
It took until Saturday morning for the European summit to agree to a much reduced €10 billion ($13 billion) loan to bail out the banks in Cyprus, the fifth euro zone country after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain to apply for aid. Within hours, the decision to levy a tax on Cyprus bank deposits to pay for the rescue package resulted in a stampede to withdraw cash from the country’s banks via ATMs. The EU’s aim is to raise €6 billion by levying a one-off 10 percent tax on savings over €100,000 and a 6.75 percent tax on small depositors. Senior bank bondholders and investors in Cyprus’ sovereign debt will be left untouched. The response of the financial magazine Forbes was scathing, denouncing the “German-led group of EU officials” for “probably the single most inexplicably irresponsible decision in banking supervision in the advanced world since the 1930s.”
Forbes: The Botching of the Cyprus Bailout: Worse Than Lehman Brothers
Associated Press: Cypriot savings grab shocks savers across Europe
The Guardian: Savers across Europe will look on in horror at the Troika's raid on Cyprus
RIA Novosti: Putin Blasts Cyprus Levy on Bank Deposits as ‘Unfair’
Russia Today: Crisis Bailout Backfires: Depositors fear loss of savings in Cyprus debt payoff
Zero Hedge: All The Conditions For A Total Disaster Are In Place
Information Clearing House: The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery by Financial Terrorists
Michael Snyder: After The Banksters Steal Money From Bank Accounts In Cyprus They Will Start Doing It EVERYWHERE