Cyprus president in desperate bid to prevent run on banks

Oh Oh.. is this a test case for other countries to follow suit.

I bet the BOJ is looking at this closely.. time to protect your JPY savings ??

Outrageous that they take from saverslike this. although it is i reality just a more direct and honest way of robbing savers to bail out borrowers than the QE and other policies being adopted by the UK and EU.

Brings a different meaning to "bank robbery", doesn't it?!

Cyprus differs from other EU countries in that it is the "Switzerland of Russian Oligarchs," and this is why it is being treated differently. Russian banks working with the companies of Russian oligarchs registered in Cyprus stand to lose billions if the island’s government defaults.

Still, rather thana 9.9% charge on accounts over €100,000 and a charge of 6.75% on those under that threshold, perhaps it would be better to have a zero tax on local accounts and a slightly higher tax on those held from offshore - or drastically lower the tax on those under the threshold to say, 1%. This would put less of a burden on locals.

Most countries would do so much better if they followed Iceland's example and throw these leeches in jail. Notice how Iceland is no longer in the news? They're doing better now.

@Bluescript..my thoughts exactly. Iceland's people got tired of owing the "bankers" for something that was created out of thin air - debt and took things into their own hands. Look at them now - their better off than before. Bravo Bluescript!

Theft. Simple theft. No other words to describe this. People who are smart enough to save their money are being penalized. This is a terrible precedent for any government to set. Do the banks not have a fiduciary responsibility to protect their customers' deposits from this kind of confiscation?

Simply unbelievable...