BoC: cartel fine has no impact on results

BANK of Cyprus (BoC) said yesterday there had been no impact on the group’s results from the fine imposed on commercial banks on Tuesday by the Protection of Competition Committee (PCC).

After a year-long investigation, the Committee fined the three main banks, BoC, Laiki and Hellenic, a total of £5 million for operating an interest-rates cartel. The fine was imposed according to market share, with Bank of Cyprus charged the highest fine of £2.47 million, Laiki £1.69 million and Hellenic £830,000. Between them, the three control about 85 per cent of the local banking market.

In a statement issued yesterday, BoC said that because the investigation was prolonged, the bank had long been aware of it and the 2004 results were not affected.

“As the matter was pending for a long time, and following its policy for covering all possible risks, the Bank of Cyprus had provided for the possible loss from an adverse ruling of the whole matter in the 2003 financial statements,” the statement said.

BoC shares closed unchanged at £1.39 on the Cyprus Stock Exchange yesterday, as £20,170 worth of the bank’s stocks was traded.

The all-share index managed to drag itself back from Tuesday’s year-low of 74.57 points to end at 74.81 yesterday, a tiny increase of 0.32 per cent on a volume of £128,369. It was the second lowest volume recorded on the market since its inception in 1996.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.