The decision to protect the deposits of Laiki Bank’s customers in the UK from any losses following recent developments in Cyprus has been described as “an efficient and effective operation by the British government” in a Treasury letter addressed to Conservative MP David Burrowes, head of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Cyprus.
Greg Clark MP, financial secretary to the Treasury states in his letter that the UK government supports the Cypriot efforts to restructure their banking system, as it is in everyone’s interests that the island’s financial sector is safe and secure. “But we promised a solution that would stop depositors such as your constituents from being sucked into that restructuring process. We have delivered on that,” adds Clark referring to Burrowes’ many constituents of Cypriot origin in north London.
The Treasury financial secretary notes that the protection of depositors of banks in the UK has been achieved without any loss of UK taxpayers’ money, echoing the Chancellor’s reassurance in his letter to the Treasury Select Committee soon after the official announcement.
The newly formed Prudential Regulatory Authority announced that the deposits of the 15,000 Laiki UK savers are to be transferred to the Bank of Cyprus UK, a bank fully incorporated in the UK financial regulatory system.
It’s a shame they didn’t do anything to help the staff of Laiki UK. The staff over here have done nothing wrong, they have run the UK arm of Laiki Bank correctly and in profit and according to the FSA guidelines, yet they are the ones who are losing their jobs. The staff of Laiki Cyprus have their jobs guaranteed by the Central Bank of Cyprus so they will be okay. Why couldn’t the same be done for the staff over here? It’s a disgrace the way the staff of Laiki UK have been treated.