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Fittingly, a week of turmoil in Cyprus ended in confusion. The government in Nicosia was in marathon talks with the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Friday amid speculation that a deal would be done

Cyprus is expected to make a dramatic U-turn on Saturday to avert the imminent threat of financial meltdown, having signaled it is willing to tax big savers in its stricken banks to clinch a bailout from the European Union. The island's partners in

The president of Cyprus is on his way to Brussels this morning in a bid to persuade Eurozone finance chiefs to accept a last-minute deal to avoid financial meltdown in the island. Nicos Anastasiades was due in the Belgian capital on Saturday after a

Cyprus and the Troika have agreed to a 20 per cent tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at the Bank of Cyprus and 4 per cent on deposits held at other banks. A senior Cypriot official told Reuters that a plan to tap nationalized pension funds would not

Cypriot police scuffled with protesters, including employees of Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl (CPB), outside Parliament as President Nicos Anastasiades maneuvered at home and in Russia to stave off financial collapse. As the Cabinet met in the capital

Legal precedents which arise as a result of government action can on occasion lead to sudden implementation of such action on a global scale. The recent proposals in Cyprus to impose a “haircut”, a move whereby the government taxes bank deposits, on

After the Federal Reserve reaffirmed its easy money policy Wednesday, Chairman Ben Bernanke was asked whether the U.S. would ever think of taxing bank depositors as Cyprus has done. He said that was very unlikely but Jim Rickards, senior managing

Chancellor Angela Merkel told German lawmakers in the European morning that Cyprus’s proposition to nationalize pension funds in order to prop up its finances was unacceptable. She insisted that Cyprus should rather concentrate on debt sustainability

The coming hours will decide Cyprus' fate as it struggles to meet the terms of an international financial bailout, the government spokesman says. "Any solution involves pain," Christos Stylianides said in the capital Nicosia, without giving details

Many have noted the fairly muted market reaction to the crisis unfolding in Cyprus. At a press conference Wednesday following the Federal Reserve's regular FOMC policy meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke nailed the general mood, telling reporters

Citi chief economist Willem Buiter has been one of the skeptics towards official policy over the course of the Eurozone crisis. Ever since ECB President Mario Draghi put markets to bed for an extended rest in July with his "whatever it takes to save

Germany’s role in imposing the euro bloc’s first levy on bank deposits, in Cyprus, shows Chancellor Angela Merkel’s dilemma in explaining to voters facing September elections why they should pick up the tab for another bailout. “I have to go to my

The UBS analyst team has cut its EUR/USD forecast for the one-month and tree-month windows and after expecting 1.37 in 1-month and 1.30 in 3-month, the bank is expecting now the pair going to 1.3000 in 1-M and 1.28 in 3-M windows. However, UBS

There's still no deal in Cyprus. As it stands, the government does not have the votes to pass the bank levy that would be required in order to reopen the banks without a financial collapse. Negotiations remain underway to reschedule the tax (make it

Here's Societe Generale's review of some of the tail risks, or unlikely scenarios, out there. For now, they believe we should be more worried about the downside risks. read more

According to MNI, Michalis Sarris, the Cypriot Finance Minister, has resigned on Tuesday. However, Cyprus President Anastasiades has rejected Sarris' resignation. The EUR/USD is trading back below 1.2900 again after bottoming at 1.2880 on Monday

Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that the FBI has joined the SEC in a probe of computer trading to prevent market manipulation caused by electronic trading strategies. They’re specifically going after algorithmic trading and high-frequency

Cyprus’s parliament rejected an unprecedented levy on bank deposits, dealing a blow to European plans to force savers to shoulder part of the country’s bailout in a standoff that risks renewed tumult in the euro area. Cypriot legislators in the

Today the Cyprus parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject a bailout deal that was agreed to by the President this past weekend. The bailout would have imposed a one-off levy on all bank depositors, a form of confiscation that the public is furious

European policy makers are weighing how far to push Cyprus after lawmakers in the Mediterranean nation rejected an unprecedented levy on bank deposits, throwing into limbo a rescue package designed to keep it in the euro. Stocks and the euro gained