Bank of Cyprus

NICOSIA ? Arsonists torched two cars early on Tuesday outside the home of the head of Bank of Cyprus, who has overseen a major restructuring of the island?s largest lender, police said.

John Patrick Hourican ? a former Royal Bank of Scotland senior executive who joined BoC in October 2013 ? was out of the country on business at the time of the arson attack.

By Nikos Roussanoglou

Investors are still drawn to the Greek property market despite the continued uncertainty, which may increase risk but also keeps prices low, experts say.

Cypriot lenders Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank said on Tuesday they had no material impact from the Swiss National Bank?s decision to scrap its cap on the Swiss franc against the euro.

Bank of Cyprus, the country?s largest lender, said its lending exposure in Swiss francs totaled 1.09 billion euros on December 31, representing 4.6 percent of total gross loans.

Bank of Cyprus has completed the third phase of its share capital increase with its retail offer to shareholders, it said on Tuesday.

The bank said it received applications for 567,188 shares at 0.24 euros per share, totaling 136,125 euros.

The governing board of Alpha Bank Cyprus agreed on Monday to the acquisition of Emporiki Cyprus, the subsidiary of Greece’s Emporiki Bank which has been absorbed by the Alpha Group.

Alpha Bank Cyprus will acquire 100 percent of Emporiki’s shares, with the two banks merging through Alpha’s absorption of Emporiki.

Two former chairmen and three other one-time top executives of the Bank of Cyprus are being charged in connection with the economic meltdown that forced Nicosia to seek a painful international bailout.

A late selling spree on the Greek bourse day had turned profits into losses by closing time, as traders remained nervous ahead of Wednesday’s first vote for the new president in Parliament. Early signs that the tide could be turning in favor of the government’s presidential candidate Stavros Dimas are still too small to create a winning momentum and appease the markets.

Bank of Cyprus shares will resume trading on the Cyprus Stock Exchange on Dec. 16, bourse authorities said on Friday, some 21 months after the stock was suspended during a chaotic bailout of Cyprus.

The stock will start trading at 0.24 euros a share, the stock exchange said in a statement.

Bank of Cyprus, the island’s largest lender, on Thursday announced it had made a 5-million-euro loss in the third quarter as it restructured after a massive debt bailout.

[AFP]

Cypriot lender Bank of Cyprus posted a profit of 76 million euros ($95 million) in the first nine months of the year, helped by the disposal of assets in Ukraine, Romania and Serbia.

It also said its shares would resume trading in mid December after an 18-month suspension.