8 August 2014
In a letter dated 7 August 2014 Stefaan De Rynck, Head of Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General Internal Market and Services, wrote to lawyers for FBME undertaking to take steps to monitor the situation in Cyprus and ensure that EU laws are complied with.
7 August 2014
Specialist forensic accountants arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday, 30 July, to initiate an investigation into the Anti Money Laundering policies and procedures of FBME Bank. The investigation is part of the Bank’s engagement with the US Department of Treasury following the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Findings, dated 15 July 2014.
6 August 2014
The Central Bank of Cyprus commissioned an investigation into the whole financial sector in Cyprus, including FBME, which was carried out by the international consulting firm PwC from 17 June to 4 July 2014. The findings of this report have not been released to FBME, its shareholders, or, as far as we know, to the public in Cyprus, who presumably paid for the investigation. This should be released.
In meetings senior officials of FBME the Central Bank of Cyprus said that the report did not raise any serious Anti Money laundering concerns.
In 2013, FBME Bank won its eighth consecutive STP Excellence award from Deutsche Bank for the “excellent quality of its payment messages” in reference to what is known as straight-through processing for Euro and US dollar transactions. STP allows for the entire trade process for capital market and payment transactions to be made electronically, while being subject to legal and regulatory controls.
These awards pay testament to the well-regarded operations within the Bank and the professionalism of its staff. With German roots, Deutsche Bank is a leading global financial institution present in major markets around the world.
6 August 2014
Depositors should have a right to access their accounts at the Cyprus branch of FBME. Payments have been effectively blocked by the Special Administrator of the Central Bank of Cyprus, although he claims to be approving transactions. But very few have been given the go-ahead. The claim that this is due to an absence of correspondent banking arrangements, made by the Central Bank of Cyprus, is not true: there are correspondent banks.
5 August 2014
Correspondence has been initiated with the European Central Bank (ECB by the shareholders of FBME Limited, the holding company of FBME Bank, setting out concerns at actions taken by the Central Bank of Cyprus and the performance of its Special Administrator since 21 July 2014. The letter was sent to the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, Mrs Daniele Nouy on 5 August 2014.
4 August 2014
Specialist forensic accountants from the US have started their investigation into the Notice of Findings and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the FinCEN bureau of the US Department of Treasury.
28 July 2014
The Central Bank of Cyprus as the Resolution Authority of FBME Bank has announced on its website that the suspension of activities of the Cyprus Branch of FBME Bank Limited, which includes customer orders for transfers and other payments, is extended to cover Friday 25 July and Monday 28 July 2014. The suspension order has run from noon on 23 July.
While the Cyprus branch of FBME is not now formally closed, it remains unable to facilitate the payment of customer deposits on the instructions of the Special Administrator appointed by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
28 July 2014
(A call made by employees of FBME Bank in Cyprus on 28 July 2014 for the Central Bank of Cyprus to listen to their concerns.)
We are gathered here today in order to voice our concerns with the decisions of the Central Bank and in order to highlight the impact which these decisions have on ourselves and our families.
18 July 2014
Given the current media coverage relating to recent US Department of the Treasury notices, FBME Bank seeks to clarify its position.
