EVEN THOUGH THE PARENT BANK IN CYPRUS WILL BE CLOSED DOWN Nicolae Cinteză assures the customers of Marfin Bank that they are not at risk

Marfin Bank România, the Romanian subsidiary of Cyprus Popular Bank, which will be closed down, is not affected by the agreement between Cyprus and the international financial institutions, officials of the Romanian bank and Nicolae Cinteză, the head of the Banking Supervision Department of the National Bank of Romania are saying.

Nicolae Cinteză said that Marfin Bank meets the financial solidity requirements stipulated in the law: "If the local subsidiary of Cyprus Popular Bank will be included among the < bad > assets of the lender, which is possible, when one thinks that its sale is desired, the Central Bank would suspend the voting rights of the majority shareholder".

In the event of such a hypothesis, the capital will remain in Romania, and control will be exercised by the minority shareholders, according to the official of the NBR. If the situation of the bank were to deteriorate, control would be taken over by the Fund for the Guarantee of Bank Deposits, Nicolae Cinteză says.

If Marfin Romania were included among the "good" assets, Bank of Cyprus would become its new majority shareholder. The Cypriot bank would own a branch as well as a subsidiary in Romania, from a legal point of view, but in order to increase the efficiency of the activity, a likely scenario would involve the transformation of the Romanian branch of Bank of Cyprus into an entity subordinated to Marfin Bank România, because the latter has a Romanian legal personality, Nicolae Cinteză went on to say.

Cornel Stănescu, the deputy managing director of the lender says that the bank is not affected by the decisions made by the Eurogroup.

The bank obeys the Romanian legislation, and its activity is regulated and overseen by the National Bank of Romania, he said.

"At this moment, Marfin Bank România has a solid financial position, and its solvency ratios, as well as the general liquidity rate indicate a banking activity which has followed the prudential requirements, thus confirming the bank's ability to grow organically", says Cornel Stănescu. The bank has pursued its activity without disruptions over the last week, even as Cyprus lenders were closed during this time, according to the official of Marfin.

"Thus, the customers, their businesses as well as their banking needs have not been affected", Cornel Stănescu pointed out.

Marfin Bank România has granted loans amounting to 370 million Euros and has attracted deposits from customers amounting to 180 million Euros.

• Bank of Cyprus has announced its branches that the levy on customer deposits will only apply in Cyprus

Bank of Cyprus has announced its foreign subsidiaries and branches that the decision to tax the big deposits greater than 100,000 Euros will only apply to deposits set up in Cyprus, and showed that an official circular will be issued today.

"Following the decision of Eurogroup made this morning, this message is intended to clarify that any haircut on bank deposits of Bank of Cyprus will only apply to deposits set up in Cyprus and not in other countries. An official circular will follow later today, but this is only to assuage any fear or doubts concerning the situation", according to a message sent by the CEO of Bank of Cyprus Group, Yiannis Kypri.

At the end of this message, Kypri notes that "at a first glance" the group will have the ability to restructure itself and will continue to be the leader of the banking system in Cyprus.

On the banking side, the group is present in Romania through a branch, which is not registered in Romania, and has a market share of 0.7% in terms of assets. Deposits set up at bank of Cyprus Romania are guaranteed by the fund for the guarantee of deposits in Cyprus, up to 100,000 Euros, the maximum threshold in the EU.

On the Sunday to Monday night, the ministers of Finance in the Eurozone have approved an agreement which stipulates supporting Cyprus through a foreign aid loan of 10 billion Euros, but subject to a harsh restructuring of the banking system.

Bank of Cyprus, the biggest bank in Cyprus, will levy a tax of 30% on amounts bigger than 100,000 of the banking deposits, as part of the financial bailout agreement approved by Eurogroup.

Bank of Cyprus entered Romania in March 2007, with leasing services, and four months it began banking operations on the corporate clients.

Bank of Cyprus has a significant participation in Banca Transilvania, with almost 10% of the share capital of the latter.