The National Solidarity Fund (ETA) Committee has approved a compensation programme for Cypriot depositors who lost out during the 2013 banking crisis.
This was announced on Tuesday, June 10, by the Association of Depositors and Bondholders (SYKALA).
After more than 12 years of waiting and trying their best, the association has finally got a result that's OK, even if it's not perfect. This is a big step forward in getting justice for thousands of victims.
The scheme's criteria may not meet SYKALA's original ambitious goals, but the current approach is a reasonable compromise that opens the door to real payments.
Just to flag, the approved programme will only affect individuals and will remain in effect until the end of 2025. The most they'll lose is €1 million. Even if the actual losses are higher than this, this limit will still be used in the calculations. The compensation will be 10% of the net financial loss, including depreciation or discounting of assets. At the same time, you can't pay one person more than €100,000. The budget for the first phase of the programme is about €100 million. SYKALA said that right now legal entities and companies aren't included in this scheme, but they might join later on, once the legal service has given the green light.
The ETA's decision is currently being sent to the Minister of Finance, who'll then submit it to the Council of Ministers for approval. The government has given the document the green light, so it'll be sent to Parliament for the deputies to check and approve the budget needed to get the payments rolling.
If all the necessary approvals are in place before the local MPs' summer recess, the first payments could be made as early as July 2025. At the same time, we'll start interacting with compensation recipients. If you've already sent us your documents, you'll get an email with a link to a special digital platform. You can use this platform to confirm the amount claimed and provide bank details for the transfer of funds.
You'll also be able to dispute the amount of compensation if you spot any mistakes in the data that's already been submitted. In this case, you'll need to attach documents confirming the amounts claimed.
The new scheme is mostly for people who used to have money in Laiki Bank.
It also covers other affected parties. For example, people who hold impaired securities and customers of the Bank of Cyprus who were affected by the 2013 restructuring measures.
SYKALA is very grateful to the President of Cyprus, the Minister of Finance, the Chairman of the ETA Committee, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance, and a number of relevant officials. Their contribution and consistent work have brought the process to the stage of actual payments. The Association made it clear that the fight for justice is far from over, but today's step is a step in the right direction for those affected, as it should help them get some compensation for losses that have gone unaddressed for far too long.