It seems to be a tiresome case on different fronts. A bank under resolution due to a heavy statement by U.S. based Financial Crime Enforcement Network and administrators who cannot fulfil their duties for various probably legitimate reasons.
The central bank of Cyprus appointed in January 2016 Chris Iacovides as the next special administrator after Dinos Christofides and Andrew Andronikou resigned in the past.
Iacovides has specific duties. First of all he needs to reorganize the banks staff in an effort to reduce costs. Since the license of the branch was revoked by the central there is no way back and the bank has to be liquidated. His next assignment is to assist the central bank and the management committee of the Deposit Guarantee and Resolution of Credit and Other Institution Scheme to activate the depositors protection guarantee for customer deposits held at FBME Bank Ltd – Cyprus branch. After the DGS is activated and claimants file their claims, the next phase is to take the late bank to court and request the judge to appoint a liquidator and approve the liquidation processes.
The situation is new for the Cyprus government and the central bank. Never before, a bank failed due to criminal allegations, while the bank is more liquid as competitors. The facts show evidence that the liquidation of FBME Bank will have a different impact as Laiki Bank had in 2012/2013 during the economic crisis that forced the Republic of Cyprus to request financial assistance from the European Union.
Although a bail-in, where bank customers and investors must convert (part of) their account balance into bank’s shares, is inevitable, it will most probably not effect the Cyprus tax payer.
Due to the intention to liquidate the bank, and the lawsuits in the US (FinCEN vs FBME Ltd.) and Paris at the ICC (CBC vs FBME Ltd.) responsibility and liability becomes clear after the verdicts in both courts. Therefore, customer accounts and investments in private placements are not lost. The verdicts give opportunities to claim the surplus on accounts that cannot be recovered in the regular liquidation procedures.
The procedure to claim funds is uncluttered, however, mistakes can have a considerable impact. We therefore invite customers of FBME Bank with accounts in Cyprus and Tanzania to contact us. We represent a substantial number of the bank’s customers and therefore are able to handle your case based on facts and experience.