27 May 2016

A ruling by Cyprus’s Administrative Court to reject the application from FBME Bank Limited to suspend the planned moves of the Central Bank of Cyprus to revoke the license of FBME’s local branch has been declared insignificant. FBME’s original application was made nearly 21 months ago to the Cyprus Supreme Court, and was in the form of a request for an interim judgment. The Administrative Court actually heard the case to relieve the backlog in the Supreme Court, and it is known that the Administrative Court does not usually grant interim measures.

The real decisions before the courts in Cyprus and the USA, and the arbitral tribunal in France will be made in coming months. By way of example, in early June there will a hearing by the Washington DC District Court into the actions of FinCEN, which provoked the decision of the CBC to commandeer FBME’s Cyprus branch through its highly inappropriate use of Resolution Law. The outcome of this hearing may have important implications for ongoing legal proceedings in Cyprus and elsewhere.