Shock in Cyprus as savers face bailout levy

Shock in Cyprus as savers face bailout levy

www.bbc.co.uk

People in Cyprus have reacted with shock to news of a one-off levy of up to 10% on savings as part of a 10bn-euro (£8.7bn; $13bn) bailout agreed in Brussels.

Savers could be seen queuing at cash machines amid resentment at the charge.

The deal reached with euro partners and the IMF marks a radical departure from previous international aid packages.

President Nicos Anastasiades defended it as a "painful" step, taken to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy.

The Cypriot leader, who was elected last month on a promise to tackle the country's debt crisis, will address the nation on Sunday.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well this is a shocker. It seems that the Eurozone is again shaking at the seams.

Savers in Cypriot banks are being hit with a 'Levy', which is a euphemism for legally stealing money held in a bank.

If you have under 100,000 Euros you get stung for 6.75% and above that it's 9.9%!!!!!

Absolutely shocking! The people of Cyprus can't withdraw their cash or transfer it as the banksters have frozen their accounts. The weekend and bank holiday also means they can't even withdraw any over the counter!

I would hate to be employed for a bank in Cyprus right now....

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Bloody hell thats outrageous they have to pay another tax on hard earned money they have already paid tax on.

Exactly!

I could maybe understand a small percentage to be in stasis as a bond perhaps. Yet for the bank to actually steal the cash outright , well it is literally... daylight robbery!

I fear this stupid move could destroy the Cypriot Banking system....

And people wonder why the push for gun control here in the states is so prevalent, Imagine what that happening in the states would look like with an armed populace.

This is up a couple of places already - but, yeah it is really big news and I can't believe more people aren't talking about it!

Clearly the bankers are not willing to accept write downs like in Greece.
Always remember, the only money which is safe is sovereign bonds. The government will literally have to sell the paint of the roads to pay back the bond holders. There is a reason why the identity of those buying government bonds is kept secret. Insiders allege that the Italian bonds were primarily purchased by the Italian banks (using money borowed from the central bank) to keep the scam going a bit longer. If it can happen in Cyprus it can happen anywhere, it will soon. The system is imploding and who are the bond holder who will be left holding the only guaranteed debt? Figure that one out and you know who owns the world.

Originally posted by benrl
And people wonder why the push for gun control here in the states is so prevalent, Imagine what that happening in the states would look like with an armed populace.

Okay, this I would probably go nuts over. It's actually one of very few reasons I would consider trying to rise against the government.

S&F OP....great post! (And I don't S&F often....in fact, rarely)

I starred & flagged this thread because it does such a great job highlighting the disturbing fact that government (whether in Cyprus, the US, or elsewhere) seem to think they OWN their citizens. And by owning their citizens, they also feel they own their citizen's assets.

How would you feel if the government came into your home, decided they wanted your jewelry, antiques, money, guns, or whatever....and decided to leave you some "worthless I.O.U" in exchange? And if you resisted, you ended up jailed or worse??

Oh wait...I think we have seen this before..... Can anyone guess where???

What I think is interesting here is the raw openness of this theft of private wealth. Usually what a government will do is increase existing taxes, create some new taxes, cut state handouts & services when they want to raise some new capital. They generally try to obfuscate the process. Here it is just a government sanctioned bank robbery. We are taking your money... end of story. Only thing missing is the bags with SWAG written on them,

The blowback on this should be interesting. I would expect a serious run on the bank. They are blocking this currently, but how long for? Why have your saving in a Cypriot bank when the government are just going to use it as a private slush fund? No sane person is going to bank there after this. Also I expect other nations are going to watch the outcome of this closely. If the Cypriot government do pull this off, you can probably expect to have this madness rolled out in other countries.

reply to post by watcher3339


Ya for some reason when there is anything to do with the banks here or overseas, Its hardly even talked about,, people just don't care ATS does have some threads on banks, But there few and far between, Right now the banks get over 40 billion a month from the fed, and people just don't care,,,

Look at the CPAC meeting there having in DC, Not one of there speakers have talked about the huge Bailout The banks are still getting every month.. Bro why don't you think the Rep or Dem ever ever bring this up.. Us tax payers are paying for this, and both sides Just don't care,,,

reply to post by zigguratvertigo


Beautifully stated....

Obama’s next move?

Originally posted by benrl
And people wonder why the push for gun control here in the states is so prevalent, Imagine what that happening in the states would look like with an armed populace.

Mass slaughter of all the staff at high street banks?

Sadly, in life sometimes things have to go catastrophically WRONG for them to go Right again and for humanity to get back onto the right path for its collective future.
The banking system will collapse, be it today, tomorrow or another hundred years....it is inevitable.

It will be difficult but the bankers greed and non humanity have made this planet a hell for too many humans.

Take a deep breath and believe that one day this will all be over.

To paraphrase another poster a few days ago: Listen. The New World (NOT the NWO) is coming! On a quiet day you can hear her breathing! Have faith people!

Just off to get a safe, however as you don't know when those worthless bits of paper, might come in handy.

I don't think people truly appreciate what this means. There is currently a bank run in Cyprus as a result, and a bank holiday declared on Monday. For people who don't appreciate what Cyprus is to the Banking community, it's what Switzerland USED to be to the moneyed elite...loose regulation and secrecy. This is HUGE!

I fully expect a market bloodbath when Asia opens tomorrow, and there is definitely a risk of contagion as a result of the rush to pull money out of Cypriot banks. Think a 'Lehman' moment for Europe.

The BIG question, IMHO, is why someone (IMF/BIS/ECB) just put a match to the entire European banking sector? Very interesting indeed.

Pay close attention to the financial news this week folks, is my suggestion.
/doomporn

Further reading:
For Everyone Shocked By What Just Happened... And Why This Is Just The Beginning-Zerohedge

Europe Does It Again: Cyprus Depositor Haircut "Bailout" Turns Into Saver "Panic", Frozen Assets, Bank Runs, Broken ATMs-Zerohedge

Bulldozer Parks Outside A Cyprus Bank - Full Video-Zerohedge

Saxo Bank CEO: "This Is Full-Blown Socialism And I Still Can't Believe It Happened"-Zerohedge

Everyone should take this as yet another warning.
Use the banks for day to day transactions, do not let them play with your savings.
Own physical gold for exemple.

Okay, let's put some sense into this.

Cyprus tried to become a mini luxemburg, evident here: www.fbscyprus.com...

Now after reading that and in reference to your geography classes you should realise that they lent money to Greece, a lot of money. Now Greece can't service that debt. What do they have to do? come up with coin.. asap. All that paper falling due on the greece side (and others) is affecting cyrpus's ability to remain solvent.

Cyprus doesn't add a whole lot to the EU bloc, under 1% I believe, but there are 1.2m people there.

The problem with this is it amounts to regressive taxation, as those with less are hit the same (well actually those with balances under EUR100k are hit at 6.75% on balances at the bank, and 9.99% for those over) but it in fact amounts to more if we look at it in a relative sense. And this regressive behaviour is being sanctioned by the ECB.

So what we have is a short term cash grab to appease the dutch and germans, and in doing so sacrificing any notion of fairness.

What strikes me as really funny, is that a few blokes here have piped up previously being against 'socialism' (usually in favour of essentially regressive policy) yet say that would never happen here (US.. of course), even though essentially this is the very thing you're in favour of. You guys crack me up.

Let's not mention deregulation of this kind only happened globally after the US totally effed the effectiveness of the Glass Steagall act.

Originally posted by benrl
And people wonder why the push for gun control here in the states is so prevalent, Imagine what that happening in the states would look like with an armed populace.

well why did your guns backfire at the time this scene was set? Your nation is in equal trouble, although your nation sets the terms and limits of your debt obligations (and many others).

So.. what the eff are you on about, the world followed US failed policy. Should we follow your gun policy too? You idiot.. the US started this fiasco.