Cypriot Supreme Court allows the sale of FMBE Bank

08.08.2014

 Central Bank of the Republic of Cyprus announced that the Supreme Court dismissed FBME application for suspension of decree on the sale of operations of the Cypriot branch of the bank.

Cyprus Central Bank also clarified that the decision on suspension of the Cypriot FBME branch ‘s activities was not based on the announcement or any other actions made by the US Federal Treasury on the 17^th of July, 2014.

On the 21^st of July, 2014 Sale of Business of the Cyprus Branch of FBME Bank Ltd (Decree of 2014 (Κ.Δ.Π. 356/2014)) was adopted. This Decree will be applicable only to the Cypriot branch of the bank and will not apply to other branches of FBME. According to tge Decree, Cyprus Central Bank considers the sale of the bank to another credit institution in order to protect interests of bank’s depositaries.

Source: http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=13844

Expert’s opinion

 Well, one cannot argue with the Court’s decision. With regards to the suspension of the Cypriot branch’s activity was not based on the announcement from financial body of USA – it is debatable since in the very early press releases on this matter there was a fact that exactly after the announcement made by FinCEN on the bank’s participation in the widely spread money laundering Central Bank of Cyprus took under its management the Cypriot branch of FBME. The only hope is that Cyprus Central Bank will not decide to “manage” someone else after FBME. There will be no surprise if in the nearest future Cyprus will have to decide and prioritize between its eastern and western partners.

Anna Shevchenko ( Lawyer, Honest & Bright)