[Rusty0604]

As part of the EU they were forced to help bail out Greece.

[GeronL]

They leader joined the euro thinking they could spend like crazy and the other countries would fix the deficits. All the other countries had the same idea.

[justa-hairyape]

The best and only solution for Cyprus is and will be to leave the EU and print their own money. Back it up with gold or silver or copper or something.

[justa-hairyape]

The Germans were dumping their Greek Bond holdings while the Cypriots were buying Greek Bonds to support their long time ally. Then after the Germans were done selling their Greek bonds, they helped to engineer the Greek bailout that wiped out 75 % of the Greek Bond value.

The Russian mob wishes they could run such a racket.

[sarasmom]

Well, that's certainly one way to bottom line it.
Factually incorrect, but still one way!

Not being a financial expert, I try to retain and grasp certain facts that tend to be routinely reported, regardless of media or government spin.

Cyprus banks were international money laundering places where long term “investors” could park large sums of mostly unexplained “cash” for 4-6% annual interest rates.
They continued to happily launder the money for various EU government and other players, and heavily “invested” in “secure” bonds from many soon to be bankrupt EU nations.

Carbon trading investment schemes were supposed to keep the fictitious money bubbles happily rolling one step ahead of worldwide government debt defaults.
They hit a wall, when certain “players” decided, or were told by their income streams,in no uncertain terms, that the “scheme” was not workable, and several big players decided not to “invest” in the game this round.
The smaller PIIGS group were to openly crash and burn first and hardest, supposedly, while providing short term cover for the rest of the failed investors.

But something bad happened on the way to the international money laundering rolling government investment bank bailouts...

The ignorant thieves finally got schooled, that there is no honor among thieves.

[tennmountainman]

The Russians have already raided banks in Cyprus, leaving the citizens of Cypress to pay the bills.

[PieterCasparzen]

International finance has been making the “important decisions” for a few hundred years; one of the biggies is that the powers that be in a nation will all support the idea of government borrowing. Government borrowing is a key part of the “grand plan” of international finance (new world order).

In terms of banking, Cyprus and Greece are joined at the hip; Cyprus banks sponged up Greek sovereign debt.

Most of the liability side of Cyprus bank balance sheets is deposits, instead of also including a healthy amount of borrowing that is well-matched to an asset portfolio that performs well.

Too much of the asset portfolio is Greek loans which have performed atrociously since the Greek problems really hit the fan.

Cyprus did not get a bailout when Greece did.

Cyprus as a finance hub has been heavily promoted (note the global consulting firms with their hand in the market), but there is only a small national economy and the banks balance sheets are not well-diversified. Therefore, in essence, the finance hub is not much more than a thin shell which places depositors large and small at great risk.