Piraeus Bank, the third biggest lender in Greece, was chosen Friday to take over the branches of the Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Popular Bank, a move that will not earn the Cypriot banks direct revenues, but will drastically reduce their debts and help ease the rescue bill fro near-bankrupt Cyprus. Other bidders for

The chiefs of the island’s two largest lenders, Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) have made a dramatic appeal to parliament to approve a package of EU-imposed rescue measures that include a levy on savings that should prevent a banking sector default. Deputies rejected the first table of the package on Tuesday that

Senior members of the well established Greek Cypriot community in the UK, based mostly in northern London, have assumed action trying to coordinate an effort to garner support for their native country. The National Federation of Cypriots in the UK executive body met on Thursday evening and agreed to call an extraordinary plenary meeting for

Cyprus, dogged by a financial crisis that could see its banks default if an international rescue package is not approved by parliament, was hit by a mild storm Friday, after a week-long pre-Spring lull, with yachts and fishing boats in Paphos harbour damaged from rocking or being washed ashore. Strong winds and light showers were

On a hot morning in July last year, Cypriot President Demetris Christofias sat with a group of journalists on the stage of the sleekly modern National Theatre in Nicosia and beamed as he talked about his warm ties with Russia. The communist party leader, who met his wife and earned his doctorate in Moscow, told

Europe's paymaster Germany stepped up pressure on stricken Cyprus on Friday, rejecting its proposal to nationalise pension funds to plug its finance gap and demanding it take an axe to its banks if it wants a bailout. Chancellor Angela Merkel stuck to the hard line Berlin has been pushing for weeks, telling lawmakers that while

Any solution to the Cyprus financial problem must be accompanied by a "haircut" on bank deposits on which the Troika is insisting, if the Republic of Cyprus wishes to obtain a loan from the EU, according to CNA sources. Parliamentary parties, however, are reacting to such a solution while the government is calling them to

Greece has agreed on a deal for the takeover of local units of stricken Cypriot banks, the two nations said on Friday, helping shield Greek banks from the fallout of the island's crisis and allowing Cyprus to shrink its bloated banking sector. At least three Greek banks including Alpha Bank and Piraeus are ready to