In his letter to the banks, the Governor of the Central Bank, Konstantinos Herodotou, took a step in the right direction. Even with a lot of delay and after pleas, suggestions and appeals from many sides, with our Website at the forefront, Mr. Herodotus did the obvious. He calls on the Banks to facilitate the citizens in their transactions with the banking institutions.
It is a move that is expected to relieve thousands of traders with credit institutions. But we repeat. It's just one of many things that need to be done to facilitate business and entrepreneurs in their daily activities. For years now with the restrictive measures of banks of strict controls and unnecessary conditions, businesses and entrepreneurs, the whole economy is suffering.
Foreign businessmen and investors left Cyprus. Many others were prevented from coming to our country. Tens of thousands of bank accounts, Cypriot and foreign, were closed. There was no funding for economic activity and development. In short, the economy was suffocating and economic activity was declining. Now, with the delayed intervention of Mr. Herodotus, the situation is expected to improve. But the instructions he gave in his last letter are not enough. There should be other relaxations to facilitate the opening of accounts, but also other simple banking transactions such as remittances, receipts and payments. So far we have an unacceptable situation with the so-called compliance departments of banks, the well-known compliance departments.
These moves must be made soon and added to what the Governor of the Central Bank indicated in his last letter. In this letter, Mr. Herodotus called on the Executive Directors / Acting Chief Executive Officers of the SPDs, to assist in the completion of sustainable restructuring, in the context of full transparency and without delays, referring to the relevant April 24, 2020 and April 6, 2020 respectively, as well as in the letter dated September 3, 2021 to API, which was also notified to the Chairmen of the Boards of Directors of the member banks of the Cyprus Banking Association.
Herodotus' letter also emphasizes that, in the particular economic conditions of the last 18 months and in view of the prevailing climate of uncertainty, the achievement of timely and sustainable restructuring, as well as the return of viable businesses and households to normal operation, is to its advantage. economy and financial stability. To this end, providing comprehensive information to borrowers in order to achieve the most efficient, fair and constructive negotiation possible is an essential component.
It is noted that both the Central Bank and the European Central Bank (ECB) have taken a number of measures to help banks carry out the necessary restructuring in a timely manner, to support sustainable businesses and households and, consequently, economic activity as a whole. APIs are expected to respond quickly by offering sustainable restructuring, where needed, taking advantage of the temporary capital easing granted to them. In his letter, the Governor attaches the utmost importance to the transparency of charges, reiterating the relevant content of the letter dated 24 April 2020, which reminded of the obligations of APIs for timely, complete and accurate information of consumers / borrowers, which derive from Article 3 of the Law on the Liberalization of Interest Rates and Related Issues.
