TheMarfin Laiki Bank in Finchley, North LondonNotice placed in the window of a London branch in 2013The interior of the Laiki Bank, Finchley, filled with boxes and cabinets after closure
Cyprus Popular Bank (from 2006 to 2011 known as Marfin Popular Bank (MPB)) was the second-largestbanking group inCyprus behind theBank of Cyprus until it was 'shuttered' in March 2013 and split into two parts. The 'good' Cypriot part was merged into theBank of Cyprus (including insured deposits under 100,000 Euro) and the 'bad' part or legacy entity holds all the overseas operations as well as uninsured deposits above 100,000 Euro, old shares and bonds. The uninsured depositors were subject to abail-in and became the new shareholders of the legacy entity. As at May 2017, the legacy entity is one of the largest shareholders ofBank of Cyprus with 4.8% but does not hold a board seat. All the overseas operations, of the now defunct Cyprus Popular Bank, are also held by the legacy entity, until they are sold by the Special Administrator, at first Ms Andri Antoniadou, who ran the legacy entity for two years, from March 2013 until 3 March 2015. She tendered her resignation due to disagreements, with the Governor of theCentral Bank of Cyprus and the Central Bank Board members, who amended the lawyers of the legacy entity, without consulting her. Veteran bankerChris Pavlou who is an expert in Treasury and risk management took over as Special Administrator of the legacy entity in April 2015 until December 2016. The legacy entity is pursuing legal action against former major shareholderMarfin Investment Group.
Trading on the island asLaiki Bank (Laiki being the Greek word for Popular), as of September 2012 it held a 16% share of the market in loans and a 14.4% share of deposits. The Bank made a series of large loans, many to Greek companies prior to and during their financial crisis. What followed has been described as "billions handed out in bad loans created a financial time-bomb".[2] After the bank collapsed, it was rescued by the Cypriot government, which took 84% ownership on 30 June 2012 and as of March 2013[update] it is being dismantled as part of the2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis.[3]
In 1901, four leading citizens ofLimassol—Agathoclis Francoudis, Ioannis Kyriakides, Christodoulos Sozos and Neoklis Ioannides—established the Popular Savings Bank of Limassol to encourage saving among the workforce. More than two decades later, in 1924, the bank changed its name from the Popular Savings Bank of Limassol to the Popular Bank of Limassol. The bank also became the first company in Cyprus to register as a public-traded company.
Then in 1967, the Popular Bank of Limassol changed its name toCyprus Popular Bank (CPB) to reflect the bank’s expansion beyond Limassol. Expansion beyond Limassol followed quickly, with the establishment of its first branches inNicosia,Famagusta (1969), andPaphos andLarnaca (1970). Also in 1970,Midland Bank acquired 22% of the company's shares, making Midland a major shareholder in CPB. The next year CPB relocated its headquarters from Limassol to Nicosia.
1983 CPB acquired all the Cyprus operations ofGrindlays Bank located in the area under government control.
1992 CPB opened the first branch of European Popular Bank inAthens. CPB owned 58% of the shares of the bank; other shareholders includedHSBC (formerly Midland Bank) and Greek and Cypriot investors. CPB retained branches inHeraklion andThessaloniki
1996 CPB opened its first representative offices inAustralia.
1997 CPB opened its first representative offices inSerbia[5] and inRussia ("Rosprombank")[6]
1998 CPB establishes a representative office in New York. (NY State Banking Dept says State chartered).
2000 The Cyprus Popular Bank Group changed its name toLaiki Group.
2001 The Laiki Group established a subsidiary in Australia with five branches.
2005 The Group established Laiki Bank (Guernsey), and purchased Bank Centrobank inSerbia.
2006 The GreekMarfin Investment Group acquired HSBC's shares in Laiki Bank, establishing a strong minority share position. Subsequently, the Marfin Investment Group through more acquisitions managed to take control of Laiki Bank, which itre-branded asMarfin Popular Bank.[7] In Greece, the Marfin Group consolidated Egnatia, Laiki and Marfin to formMarfin Egnatia Bank, which is the 95%-owned Greek subsidiary of Marfin Popular Bank.
2007 The bank announced the planned takeover of 50.12% of the share capital of AS SBM Pank, a bank inEstonia.[8]
MPB also acquired 99.2% of the shares of Marine Transport BankUkraine for US$156 million. This bank was founded in 1993 as Marine Trade Bank and changed its name to Marine Transport Bank in 1996. It has its headquarters in theOdesa region and has 86 branches.
In 2007, the bank announced a multi-million financial deal to sponsor the footballFirst Division in Cyprus until 2010.[9]
2008 Marfin Popular Bank completed its acquisition of 50.4% of the shares of CJSC RPB Holding, parent company of the Rossisysky Promishlenny Bank (Rosprombank), for €83 million. The acquisition makes Marfin the first Greek or Cypriot bank to acquire control of a bank inRussia.
In 2010, they launched a new mobile banking and mobile trading service. In the same year, the company was selected as the bank of the year in Cyprus by theBanker.
2010 MPB sold 85% of Laiki Bank Australia to Bank of Beirut. The Australian bank received a new name, Beirut Hellenic Bank.[10] At the time, the bank had a branch in Adelaide, four branches in Melbourne and five branches in Sydney.
2011 MPB sold the majority of its shareholding in its Estonian subsidiary and returned to its historic name ofCyprus Popular Bank (CPB).
In 2012 CPB converted its Greek subsidiary into a branch of the parent bank.
In early 2013 CPB renamed its Greek branches toCPB Bank and on 26 March the bank sold them toPiraeus Bank. Laiki was split into a good and bad bank, the good bank (Cyprus operations) merged withBank of Cyprus and thebad bank is in the process of being sold and finally shuttered. The board and CEO were replaced on 27 March. The bad bank was being run by a Special Administrator Ms Andri Antoniadou who was acting CEO until 3 March 2015. Veteran bankerChris Pavlou took over as Special Administrator in April 2015 until December 2016.[11][12]
In 2018 European Court dismisses compensation claim in Cyprus 2013 deposit-grab.[13]
Members of theEuro Banking Association
