bbc.co.uk:
"Under the bailout's terms, people in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts would have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%. Those with sums over that threshold would pay 9.9% in tax."
Lars Seier Christensen, co-founder & CEO, Saxo Bank A/S:
"Shocking!
It is difficult to describe the weekend bailout package to Cyprus in any other way. The confiscation of 6.75 percent of small depositors' money and 9.9 percent of big depositors' funds is without precedence that I can think of in a supposedly civilised and democratic society. But maybe the European Union (EU) is no longer a civilised democracy?"
Eamonn Fingleton, Contributor, Forbes.com:
"Although they had years to consider their options (Cyprus’s problems are closely related to those of Greece and have long been almost as obvious), they have opted for a “solution” that amounts to probably the single most inexplicably irresponsible decision in banking supervision in the advanced world since the 1930s."
From http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/03/cyprus-bail-out#comments, reader's comments
LuftwaffeMar 17th, 13:08
"I'm not gonna be popular in this thread but let me ask a few questions:
1. Was it the EU or Cyprus who allowed the Cyprus banking sector to baloon out of proportion?
2. Who regulated the cypriot banks? The EU or the cypriot regulator?
3. Who went after the russian money? The EU or the cypriot banks?
4. Who regulates and funds the deposit insurance scheme in Cyprus? The EU or the cypriot regulator and the cypriot banks?
5. Is the cypriot deposit insurance fund or the Cypriot state able to cover at least the cypriot depositors if the banks go bust?"
chris - free marketin reply to LuftwaffeMar 17th, 13:19
"Cypriot Regulator is part of the European Central Bank. It's not an independant regulator.
ECB should have done all those things if there was a problem.
And let me remind you that Luxemburg's Banks have 450% of the country GDP in money. Imagine Luxemburg's Banks to colapse..."
ekathimerini.com:
"Forbes said on its website that ratings agency Moody's last year estimated the holdings of Russian businesses in Cyprus at $19 billion, with another $12 billion held there by Russian banks.
Forbes also cites other press estimates which place the personal deposits of Russians in Cyprus between 8 and 35 billion euros"[...]"Russians have lost up to 3.5 billion euros in one day,» an editorial on the site [Forbes.ru] read. «The news of a 10 percent tax on deposits in Cypriot banks has sown panic among the richest Russian businessmen."
Elena Tofanyuk Forbes.ru editor [Google Translation from Russian]
"Cyprus sovereign default could cause trouble for Russian banks, including VTB, Sberbank, "Nomos-bank", "Alfa-Bank" and "Gazprombank", which, according to Moody's, the Cypriot company active loans. By the end of 2012 the amount of these loans was $ 30-40 billion in the case of default of payment of Cyprus on these loans can be frozen".