Bank crisis could head for Competition Commission

ANY sort of deal in the attempted takeover bid by Marfin Popular Bank for the Bank of Cyprus will have to be approved by the Competition Commission, according to Demetris Christofias.

The President of the House was speaking yesterday after a meeting with the Head of the Competition Commission, Giorgos Christofides. Christofias said that he had already stated his views on the matter and saw the situation with the banks ending up at the Competition Commission before any decision could be reached.

“Of course I am worried, but the thing is that I cannot intervene. The Competition Commission, as well as other independent organisations such as the Central Bank, can and will have an important role to play on the matter,” he said.

Asked whether he was considering meeting with the heads of the banks, Christofias said he would be happy to do so. “If I was asked, I would accept because at the end of the day I do not want anyone claiming that my party is playing a decisive factor by refusing anything to anyone. I will express my views clearly and concisely,” he added.

The AKEL leader stressed the importance of the Competition Committee as an institution. “It is an independent body which we should respect. As President of the House of Representatives I would like to stress the fact that we are monitoring and will continue to monitor the work of the Commission as well as its role,” he said.

During yesterday’s meeting the Competition Commission handed their report for 2006 over to Christofias. The President of the Commission said the organisation was committed to guaranteeing healthy competition among businesses on the island. “The terms ‘dominant position’ or ‘the big fish eats the small one’ cannot be applied in the framework of international competition. This is where the Commission, as an independent institution, intervenes and will continue to intervene in order to ensure healthy competition,” Christofides said.

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.