Bank of Cyprus

Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd
Τράπεζα Κύπρου Δημόσια Εταιρεία Λιμιτεδ

Type	Publicly traded limited company
Traded as	CSE: BOCY, Athex: BOC
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1899
Headquarters	Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus
Area served	Cyprus, Greece, UK, Guernsey, Romania, Russia, Australia, Ukraine
Key people	Andreas Eliades (CEO), Theodoros Aristodemou (Chairman)
Products	Retail, investment and business banking, factoring, brokerage, insurance, asset management
Revenue	€1.450 billion (2010)[1]
Profit	€306.2 million (2010)[1]
Total assets	€42.64 billion (end 2010)[1]
Total equity	€2.828 billion (end 2010)[1]
Employees	12,010 (end 2010)[1]
Website	www.bankofcyprus.com

Bank of Cyprus (Greek: Τράπεζα Κύπρου) is a major Cypriot financial institution. In terms of market capitalisation it is the country's second largest company.^[2] As of December 31, 2005, the Group's Total Assets reached C£13,22bn (€23,00bn) and the Group's Shareholders' Funds were C£818mn (€1,42bn). At 30 September 2008, the Group's Total Assets reached €34,03 bn and the Group's Shareholders' Funds were €2,13 bn. The Bank of Cyprus Group employs 11.962 staff worldwide.

The Group currently operates through a total of 300 branches/business offices, of which 147 operate in Cyprus, 134 in Greece, four in the United Kingdom, ten in Australia (five in Victoria, four in New South Wales and one in South Australia), one in the Channel Islands, one in Moscow, and four in Romania (three in Bucharest and one in Constanța). BoC aims to build its network in Moscow and St. Petersburg and plans to grow to 40 branches in Romania.^[3]

The shares of the Bank are listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE). The Bank is the largest listed company on the CSE in terms of market capitalization and is widely held. Since October 8, 2007 the Bank of Cyprus has been part of the Dow Jones Cyprus Titans 10 Index, which comprises the 10 largest companies in Cyprus.^[2][4] The Bank of Cyprus is also listed on the Athens Stock Exchange and has been part of the FTSE/Athex 20 index from 9 October 2006.^[5]

The bank adopted as its emblem the ancient Cypriot coin bearing the inscription ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΚΥΠΡΙΩ ("Common to all Cypriots").

History^[6]

Bank of Cyprus headquarters next to Central bank of Cyprus offices

Bank of Cyprus new offices in Aglandjia suberb of Nicosia

• 1899 On January 1, 1899, a group of progressive and visionary Cypriots led by Ioannis Economides, a significant figure in financial and social circles, founded the "Nicosia Savings Bank" or "Nicosia Depository" («Ταμιευτήριο η Λευκωσία») . This is the first Cypriot banking institution.
• 1912 The "Nicosia Savings Bank" became a public company and changed its name to Bank of Cyprus (BoC), following an application by the shareholders of the Savings Bank to the High Commissioner in 1909.
• 1908 The Cyprus Savings Bank (Kypriakon Tomieftiron), commences operations in Nicosia.
• 1930 The BoC incorporated as a limited company.
• 1943 The BoC was reconstituted with the amalgamation with the Bank of Famagusta and the Bank of Larnaca.
• 1944 The BoC acquired the Melissa Bank, Paphos, (est. 1924). The Mortgage Bank of Cyprus is established.
• 1945 BoC merged with the Cyprus Savings Bank.
• 1953 BOC merged with Popular Bank of Paphos (Paphos Laiki Bank) (est. 1924).
• 1955 BoC opened its first branch abroad to serve the Cypriot community in London.
• 1960 BoC established Bank of Cyprus (London) Ltd.
• 1974 The Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus results in the loss of a total of 15 branches, namely Xeros, Morphou and Zodhia (Nicosia District), Golden Sands, Kato Varosha, Kennedy Avenue, Democratias Avenue, Evagoras Avenue and Oceania (Famagusta Town), Yialousa, Rizokarpaso and Lysi (Famagusta District), and Kyrenia, Karavas and Lapithos branches (Kyrenia District) were lost during the Invasion.
• 1982 BoC acquired Standard Chartered Bank's Cyprus operations. (The then Chartered Bank had bought the Ionian Bank's Cyprus operations in 1957.) BoC also opened a representative office in Greece.
• 1986 BoC opened a representative office in Australia.
• 1991 BoC established its first branch in Greece. Kolonaki branch was located at the corner of Vasilissis Sophias Avenue and Sekeri Street, and also boasted a Business Banking Centre and the bank's treasury. In the summer of 2009, this and Mitropoleos Street branches were merged to form the new Syntagma Square branch, which retains branch code 001.
• 1995 BoC opened a representative office in South Africa, and a branch in Heraklion, Crete.
• 1996 BoC established Bank of Cyprus (Channel Islands) in Guernsey, and a representative office in Toronto, Canada, located in the heart of Greektown in Toronto to serve mainly the Greek-Cypriot community.
• A subsidiary company, Cyprus Leasing S.A., was established in Greece to deal with leasing activities. It is now the second largest of its kind in Greece. In Cyprus, leasing activities are carried out by a dedicated department of the BoC itself rather than a focused subsidiary.
• 1998 BoC established representative offices in New York and Moscow, and then another in Bucharest, Romania.
• 2000 BoC established a subsidiary in Australia, the country with the world's largest Greek and Cypriot community. The community, which numbers around 600,000 people, is concentrated in Melbourne and Sydney. BOC had long had a presence in the Australian market through its representative offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. BoC also opened a representative office in Bucharest.

BoC bid for Interbank in New York for about $43 million. Interbank was 78% owned by Greek businessman Dimitris Kontominas, and the remaining equity was dispersed among three other shareholders. With four branches in New York, including the Astoria, Queens area where there is a strong Greek presence, the bank catered to the Greek American community. The U.S. Federal Reserve withheld its approval and bid expired.

• 2004 BoC merged its UK branch with its subsidiary Bank of Cyprus (London)Ltd. The combined business is known as "Bank of Cyprus UK".
• 2005 BoC opens its Pallini branch in eastern Athens, thereby reaching 100 branches in Greece.
• 2007 On October 8, 2007, BoC announced that it had opened a branch in Moscow, making it the first Cypriot bank to have banking operations in Russia. In the same year, the opening of two new branches in Athens (Haidari and Spata), meant that the branches in Greece outnumbered those in Cyprus.
• 2008 BoC purchased 80% of Uniastrum, the 9th largest bank in Russia, for US$576 million.^[7] Uniastrum Bank has over 220 branches throughout Russia and continues to operate under its own name, which however is linked with that of the Bank of Cyprus Group.
• 2008 BoC acquired 97% of the share capital of AvtoZAZBank in Ukraine, which operated through 26 branches and 18 seasonal cash offices located in Ukraine's four main regions. The bank now trades under the Bank of Cyprus name.
• 2010 The Bank of Cyprus decided to establish a banking unit in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), in the Emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
• 2010 The Bank of Cyprus decided to establish a representative office in India. In Cyprus, Ayios Lazaros branch in Larnaca closed, due to the forthcoming demolition of the building housing it. Despite the harsh economic downturn in Greece, the network there continues to grow, with the opening of 20 branches throughout Greece, with 10 those to be located in Greater Athens, 5 in Salonica and 5 in other areas.

Cultural Foundation

The bank operates the "Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation", which it established in 1984. It claims its purpose is to "assist in the rescue of the island's cultural heritage, which has been pillaged or stolen by the Turkish forces from the occupied areas, and to promote the Hellenic culture of Cyprus at a professional and scholarly level".^[8] It has various collections of Cypriot artifacts, such as ancient coins, old maps of the island, art pertaining to the island and "rare documents".

Awards

In 2008 the Bank of Cyprus was a recipient of a Ruban d'Honneur for Growth Strategy of the Year Award, one of the European Business Awards.^[9]

Recent history

In recent years the Bank in the UK has developed into a more focused business bank, supporting its lending with a range of savings products. As part of this strategy the bank has invested in its telephone and online banking services and closed a number of its retail branches, whilst opening dedicated business offices. Current locations are as follows:

• Central London (Charlotte Street) – corporate and high net worth banking for UK and overseas customers
• North London (Southgate) – business banking, along with customer service, counter service and administrative support
• Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield) – business banking
• South London (Croydon) – business banking

Business banking customers can also access branch counter services through the Bank's relationship with the Lloyds Banking Group network, whilst all personal and business customers can service the majority of their routine banking needs through postal, telephone and online banking services.

Oncology Center

The Bank also operates, in concert with the Republic of Cyprus, the BOC Oncology Center. The agreement provided for the bank's giving the money to build the center on land given by the government and the appropriation of the operating budget by the government.

Controversy

The head of Banca Transilvania's administration council, Horia Ciorcila and the head of Bank of Cyprus (Romania), Georgios Christofourou have been summoned to trial on alleged stock market manipulation and money laundering in the Bank of Cyprus (Romania) acquisition of a share package in Banca Transilvania end of last year.^[10] DIICOT, the direction which investigates organized crime and terrorism, have also sent to trial a former vicepresident of the administration council or Banca Transilvania, Claudiu Silaghi, and Bank of Cyprus employees, Anastasios Isaakidis, along with four other private individuals. Bank of Cyprus (Romania) has issued a statement and denies any wrongdoing.

Bank of Cyprus (Romania) announced in mid December 2009 it purchased 9.7068 per cent of the TLV (Transilvania Bank) shares for EUR 58 M, and in May 2010 expressed interest in taking over 20 per cent of the bank's stock.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Financial Information 2010". Bank of Cyprus. http://www.bankofcyprus.com/Documents/Investor%20Relations/Financial%20information/English/ConFinSta2010EuroENG.pdf. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Dow Jones Country Titans Indexes" (.xls). Dow Jones Indexes. http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/downloads/xlspages/titans/country/change_file_EC_country_titans.xls. Retrieved 2008-03-15. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Bank of Cyprus moves into Russia". BBC. 7 June 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6731707.stm. Retrieved 2007-06-08. 
4. ^ http://press.djindexes.com/index.php/component-changes-made-to-dow-jones-country-titans-and-dow-jones-select-dividend-indexes/
5. ^ Bank Of Cyprus
6. ^ 110 Moments in Our History. 2009. Bank of Cyprus.
7. ^ "Cyprus Bank buys 80 per cent of Russia's Uniastrum". The Economic Times (Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.). 28 June 2008. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International_Business/Cyprus_Bank_buys_80_per_cent_of_Russias_Uniastrum/rssarticleshow/3175039.cms. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
8. ^ BOCCF - Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation
9. ^ "Ruban d'Honneur recipients". European Business Awards. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20080413004013/http://businessawardseurope.com/html/EBA+Finalists.html. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
10. ^ "Banca Transilvania and Bank of Cyprus heads accused of insider trading". Romanian Business Insider.. 12 July 2010. http://www.romania-insider.com/banca-transilvania-and-bank-of-cyprus-managers-accused-of-insider-trading. 

External links

• Official website
• Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation Official Website
• Bank of Cyprus Oncology Center Official Website