Cyprus steals British Servicemens money ( Archived) (141)

Mar 17, 2013 4:42 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
A senior Labour politician has called for reassurance from the Government over the savings of thousands of UK servicemen and women in Cyprus banks that could be raided as part of an EU bailout.
Britons with bank accounts in the country face having their savings targeted following a £10 billion rescue package by the Cypriot government with its eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund that includes a compulsory one-off levy on deposits.
European officials said people with less than 100,000 euro (£87,000) in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, those with more money will lose 9.9% - a move which could affect thousands of Britons.
Kevan Jones, Labour's shadow armed forces minister, called on ministers in the UK to reveal whether they had fought to exempt British forces personnel in Cyprus from the levy.
"There are thousands of UK service personnel and their families based in Cyprus who could be impacted by this. Some may have served in Afghanistan," he said. "Ministers must tell us how many personnel and their families could have their savings docked and whether they argued for exemptions for our forces. If not, the country will be angry and will want to know why not. Service families have been hit by cuts to allowances and permanent reductions in pensions by the Government. If our forces' savings are raided while they are stationed in Cyprus as part of their military service the whole country will be outraged. Our heroes should not lose out while serving their country."
There are 59,000 British residents in Cyprus and 1.1 million Britons visit the island every year, the Foreign Office said. About 3,500 British military personnel are based there.
An anonymous British serviceman contacted Sky News to say: "Service personnel have no way of reaching their money and all electronic transfers have been barred by the Cyprus banks. Service personnel and their families are furious but can do nothing." British expat David Symonds told the same channel: "The view is that the timing is cynical. It's a long weekend here. Electronic banking links have been closed. Monday is a public holiday. Banks don't reopen until Tuesday, when they do there will be queues of people on the pavement waiting to get their money out. Tempers could get frayed. Those frayed tempers could well lead to violence."
News of the levy came as a shock following strict assurances from president Nicos Anastasiades that he would not accept a deal which required depositors to share in the losses. Lines formed at many ATMs in Cyprus as people scrambled to pull their money following news of the raid on their savings - an unprecedented step in the eurozone crisis. Cypriot bank officials said that depositors can access all their money except the amount set by the levy - which is expected to raise £5.8 billion - and officials added that withdrawing funds on Saturday would not reduce anyone's levy.
Bank of Cyprus UK assured customers in the UK that their deposits would not be affected by the levy, as it is a UK bank and is protected by UK financial regulation. Laiki Bank UK said on its website: "Your eligible deposits with Laiki Bank UK are protected up to a total of 100,000 euro by the Cyprus Deposit Protection Scheme and are not protected by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Any deposits you hold above the 100,000 euro limit are not covered."
Bank bosses are due to meet with Central Bank officials to figure out their next steps, while Mr Anastasiades has called for a meeting of party leaders to assess the situation. Cypriot and European officials feared that forcing depositors to take a hit would undermine investors' confidence in Cyprus and other weaker eurozone economies - and even possibly lead to bank runs.
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Mar 17, 2013 5:09 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
professor
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Mar 17, 2013 6:07 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
can you say RIP-OFF?
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Mar 17, 2013 6:09 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
Conrad73: can you say RIP-OFF?



Yep you sure cancool
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Mar 17, 2013 6:28 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money



16 March 2013

Nervous depositors in Cyprus have rushed to ATM machines to drain their accounts following a bailout agreement with international creditors that includes a levy on all the country's bank accounts.


Lines formed at many ATMs as people scrambled to pull their money out after word that the 10 billion euro (£8.6bn) rescue package Cyprus agreed with its euro area partners and the International Monetary Fund included one-off levy on deposit, an unprecedented step in the eurozone crisis.

The levy is expected to raise 5.8 billion euro.

European officials said people with less than 100,000 euro in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, those owning more money will lose 9.9%. Cypriot bank officials said that depositors can access all their money except the amount set by the levy.

But that hardly assuaged people who continued to withdraw cash from ATMs until the machines ran out, unsure what or how much would be taxed. Officials said that withdrawing funds on Saturday would not reduce anyone's levy.

The country's co-operative banks also shut their doors after depositors scurried in hopes of protecting their savings. Unlike commercial banks which remain closed on weekends, co-operative banks customarily open for business on Saturday.

"Politicians and senior bank bosses have covered each other's backs for years, now it's ordinary people who are paying the price and are being punished," said Christos Demetriades, 58, milling outside a shut Nicosia co-operative bank branch.

Cyprus' Finance Minister Michalis Sarris defended the decision to accept the levy, saying it was either that or a complete economic meltdown. "This was the least worst option," he told state broadcaster CyBC. "We battled to prevent the country from completely going bankrupt."

News of the levy came as a shock to most people following strict assurances from Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades that he would not accept a deal which required depositors to share in the losses. Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Cypriot officials had resisted intense pressure to accept a deposit levy of a whopping 40%.

Bank bosses are meeting with Central Bank officials to figure out their next steps, while Mr Anastasiades, who returns to Cyprus Saturday evening has called for a meeting of party leaders to assess the unfolding situation.
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Mar 17, 2013 6:44 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
Our Cypriot members are strangely silent???????
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Mar 17, 2013 6:46 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
chris27292729
chris27292729chris27292729IOS island, South Aegean Greece93 Threads 15,811 Posts
This post is misleading,includes all depositor in Cypriot banks,not just British servicemen.
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Mar 17, 2013 6:50 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
chris27292729: This post is misleading,includes all depositor in Cypriot banks,not just British servicemen.
actually,there was supposed to be a move underway to exempt members of the British Forces!
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Mar 17, 2013 6:50 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
chris27292729: This post is misleading,includes all depositor in Cypriot banks,not just British servicemen.



Well, all people does include British Service men, read the article.
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Mar 17, 2013 6:58 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
chris27292729
chris27292729chris27292729IOS island, South Aegean Greece93 Threads 15,811 Posts
Is not the Cypriot government fault.- Why exclude the British servicemen for the levy???? Is the UK fault, they could of have,inside the 2 military bases,they claim British,their own UK bank.-grin grin grin
tomcatwarne: Well, all people does include British Service men, read the article.
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Mar 17, 2013 7:06 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
Yep tom, It was top story on national top-of-the-hour AM radio at 7:00am here in the US.
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Mar 17, 2013 7:07 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
I think that the Greek people should pay (and the Turkish) after all the people are Greeks and Turksgrin grin grin grin grin grin
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Mar 17, 2013 7:09 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
Conrad73: actually,there was supposed to be a move underway to exempt members of the British Forces!



It's not only the service men and women. Many civilians have invested their savings and pensions in Cyprus.
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Mar 17, 2013 7:29 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
tomcatwarne
tomcatwarnetomcatwarneOcean City, Plumouth, Devon, England UK289 Threads 7 Polls 17,106 Posts
I think it is international now.
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Mar 17, 2013 7:34 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
rizlaredonline today!
rizlaredonline today!rizlaredNot in Cebu City, Central Visayas Philippines89 Threads 2 Polls 5,588 Posts
Why the heck should Cypriots be punished financially for Greek mismanagement?

The Greek Banks and politicians created this mess, therefore the people that voted them into power should shoulder the responsibility, I think it is outrageous to burden every person living on Cyprus with a saving account with a tax solely to pay for a Greek tragedy.

It could well kill Cyprus as a holiday/retirement destination and so create long term financial ruin for the country.

Latest news is that the President has postponed the vote required to put the tax into action:


I wonder why ??
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Mar 17, 2013 8:52 AM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
I wonder who is next after Cyprus....
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Mar 17, 2013 2:15 PM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
mitsos
mitsosmitsoslarnaca,famagusta, Nicosia Cyprus17 Threads 801 Posts
What i have to say is that everyone is paying for the mistakes? of few
and the greed of our European "friends"barf
As about the English ppl loosing their money i sympathize with them
but maybe they should ask their goverment to give them back their savings
as they owe billions to Cyprous for renting military bases.
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Mar 17, 2013 2:17 PM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
mitsos
mitsosmitsoslarnaca,famagusta, Nicosia Cyprus17 Threads 801 Posts
P.S.
Big F#*$$ OFF to European union
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Mar 17, 2013 2:29 PM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
MADDOG69: I wonder who is next after Cyprus....
his first name might be Paddy!
grin
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Mar 17, 2013 3:11 PM CST Cyprus steals British Servicemens money
chris27292729
chris27292729chris27292729IOS island, South Aegean Greece93 Threads 15,811 Posts
Maybe Britons soon asking the same question,""Why pay for our politicians mismanagement".??
rizlared: Why the heck should Cypriots be punished financially for Greek mismanagement?

The Greek Banks and politicians created this mess, therefore the people that voted them into power should shoulder the responsibility, I think it is outrageous to burden every person living on Cyprus with a saving account with a tax solely to pay for a Greek tragedy.

It could well kill Cyprus as a holiday/retirement destination and so create long term financial ruin for the country.

Latest news is that the President has postponed the vote required to put the tax into action:


I wonder why ??
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