European leaders reached an agreement with Cyprus early on Monday morning that closes down the island's second-biggest bank and inflicts huge losses on wealthy savers.
Russians would lose billions of euros under draconian terms that are aimed at preventing the Mediterranean tax haven becoming the first country forced out of the single currency.
"Herman Van Rompuy has brokered an agreement between the troika and Cyprus," said an EU source, referring to the president of the European council and Cyprus's trio of creditors: the European commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Well, not quite. The deal has yet to be finalised. It remains unclear how many billions of euros will be confiscated from the Russians. And does the Cypriot parliament have a say? And when will the banks open? And under what conditions?
Furthermore, in the medium term, capital controls may stop (or, more accurately, delay) the flight of funds from Cypriot banks, but can do nothing to encourage any further investment. Who, now, would be so foolish as to put any money in a Cypriot bank?
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