Type
Other
Country
Cyprus
Region
Kypros / Kibris;
Location of affected unit(s)
Nicosia, LImassol
Sector
Financial Services
Financial And Insurance Activities
Financial Service Activities, Except Insurance And Pension Funding
64.1 - Monetary intermediation

131 - 136 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
31 March 2016
Employment effect (start)
1 April 2016
Foreseen end date
1 April 2016

Description

The special administrator of the Federal Bank of Middle East (FBME Cyprus) has informed 131 to 136 of the Banks' 161 employees in Nicosia and Limassol, that their employment will be terminated on 1st of April 2016, Cyprus media reported. Affected employees were paid their salary for March and will receive any other benefits they were entitled to according to the law. Around 30 of the Bank's employees will continue working for the bank, provided they they want to. The special administrator was appointed by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) in July 2014 on allegations of money laundering expressed by the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In December 2015 the CBS has revoked the operation's licence of FBME and has applied to the district court of Nicosia for its liquidation.

According to local media, the special administrator has resorted to the dismissal of the Bank's employees with the intention to minimise the expenses to a minimum during the liquidation procedure and thus secure the interests of the Bank's depositors.

It is noteworthy that FBME considers the dismissals as illegal, as well as the liquidation, and is going to challenge these decisions in court.

The FBME Cyprus is a subsidiary of Tanzania's FBME Bank.


Sources

  • 31 March 2016: Cyprus Business Mail
  • 7 April 2016: Cyprus Business Mail
  • 7 April 2016: Fileleftheros (on line)

Citation

Eurofound (2016), Federal Bank of Middle East (FBME), Other in Cyprus, factsheet number 87265, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/87265.