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"My Savings Account Was Confiscated And All I Got Was This Cyprus Passport"
While the supposedly-coercive decision to hand over most of the nation's gold to the European Union was surprising to some, the latest policy decision from Cyprus' President Anastasiades looks set to dilute the nation's sovereignty also. Foreign depositors who lost at least EUR3 million will be given EU passports (and Cypriot citizenship), "in an effort to 'mitigate' to some extent the damage the Russian business community has suffered." As France24 reports, these measures are expected to be enacted Monday "in a fast-track manner," as Anastasiades readies himself for a 'begging' trip to meet Putin in Russia. Coincidentally, Cyprus issued the 8th decree on capital controls today (for seven more days) increasing the monthly transfer cap (for companies) to EUR50,000 and raising transfer caps outside the Republic to a huge EUR2,000. We suspect the 'been there, got the passport' messaging will do little to stave off the Russian retaliation.
Just a week or two back, Putin enacted his 'amnesty' that wealthy tax-evading Russians bring their money back from overseas within three months (or else) and we wonder if this move by Cyprus, however well intentioned from the outside, has a 'catch' in that if citizenship is applied for, are the applicants legally obligated to disclose all tax accounts. Yet another attempt at trapping wealth?
Via France24,
President Nicos Anastasiades said Sunday that foreigners with bank deposits in Cyprus who lost at least 3 million euros ($3.9 million) under an EU bailout for the island would be given passports.
"Non-resident investors who held deposits prior" to the bailout and lost "at least 3 million euros will be eligible to apply for Cypriot citizenship," he told a Russian business conference in the coastal resort of Limassol.
"We believe that a number of measures to be adopted could on the one hand mitigate to some extent the damage the Russian business community has endured," Anastasiades said.
He said the measures, primarily affecting Russians, would be approved at a two-day cabinet meeting starting on Monday.
"These decisions will be deployed in a fast-track manner and other measures, currently under consideration," said the president, whose country sealed an EU bailout last month to rescue it from bankruptcy.
Most of the money being raised by Cyprus to qualify for the bailout is to come from a hit of as much as 60 percent on more on deposits above 100,000 euros at the Mediterranean country's two largest banks.
Russians have billions of euros in deposits parked in Cyprus, with estimates ranging from 5-31 billion euros. Moscow was angered when it emerged they would lose part of their money under "haircuts" demanded in return for an EU bailout.
The government is also "examining various scenarios which could permit the compensation of part of the losses which shareholders of banks, holders of debt securities and depositors have suffered," Anastasiades said.
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And the right to vote!
Domini Domini Domini - yer all Cypriots now.
Yes, after losing 3 million Euro, you get the right to apply for tax-serfdom.
Hell, I'd pay 3 Euros for one.
Hey guys, lemme know when nobody else wants 'em and they're starting to collect dust.
Add it to my fine collection of worthless memorabilia
Who in their right mind would want ....
Well, OK, some tits from Kruzitstang or the Central African Republic.
Do they take CFA francs?
They'll need those passports to escape being run out of Russia on a rail.
Domini Domini Domini - yer all Cypriots now..
I still have the vinyl (Firesign, THC) :D
Come on Tylers, sharpen up. The Cypriot passport is a deep burgundy color, not the EU blue you guys put up.
http://memegenerator.net/instance/36644149
For EUR 3 million per passport they might as well be made of gold, blue or burgundy won't make that difference.
Because spiderman towels and toasters cost money but a passport is just printed paper.
Printed on paper by a gubamint so Krugman'd say it's more valuable than gold.
I shit you not!
.
That mallet head thinks his shit is more valuable than gold.
I Krugman you not!
That is one heck of a consolation prize. They better toss in some other great benefits too, just to sweeten the pot. Maybe immunity from taxation, both income and sales?
You mean like a Spiderman T-shirt?
damn..thought they would have gotten a spiderman towel at least.
No. Only 40% of a Legarde towell. Pray you get the top part.
This will just make it easier for Russian mobsters to travel to Brussels and Frankfurt, to pay a gratitude visit to the bankster overlords, won't it?
now that's a thought. whose head in lagarde's bed?
To me it's pretty cool
The Russians are Europeans ... they deserve a fast-track here, much more than many people.
And in fact for a long time EU citizenship has been fundamentally 'for sale' in many countries, all over Eastern Europe, where hanging out a bit, hooking up with local government-connected lawyers, and 10 or 20 thousand euros will get you on the way to EU citizenship ... even people from China are doing this
It seems not to be mentioned on ZeroHedge's many '2nd passport' articles, but Americans with some money have a legal right to live in Europe and get EU citizenship, via the Netherlands and an ancient 'Dutch-American Friendship Treaty' from the 1790s.
The American needs to support himself, technically 'start a business' (any bullshite will do), deposit about €6000 into a Dutch bank account, and support himself for 4 years (self-employment only, no work permit allowing being an 'employee' of someone else) ... So in practice about 50K for a single person, and after 4 years an American can be an EU citizen.
as if being an Amerikan is not enough.......
Get ripped off twice.
Whatta bonus!
You gotta be kidding me.
Who the fuck wants to become a Euroslave except people from totally fucked up countries?
The US o A doesn't qualify: as long as the people can be armed, there is hope.
Every country/bloc is fucked up. Don't think for a second that the US is not.
The question is which mix of fucked up you prefer.
There´s no such thing as an "EU passport"
"Myth I: It is a common misperception to believe that there is an "EU Passport" which cover all EU member countries. An "EU Passport" is only a term used to describe a passport from any EU country and does not exists in reality. Any citizen from any EU member country have same rights to travel visa free within EU / Schengen and to work in any EU country of their choice."
http://www.euimmigration.org/eu_passport.html
Just what everyone desires, another document of control from another kleptostate.
Don´t bit the bite !
If you, russians, become europeans then they will robb you more !
Huge taxation on any income and sales...elsewhere in the world !
:O))
Come to pick your fucking passport and on your way out EuroTroopers will frisk you, anal-yze you and subject you to capital controls.
"The passport is free but you must pay E3 million to be allowed to leave!"
This news is quite inflationary for those trafficing in counterfeit passports.
So, how long is it going to take before Anastasiades sells the list to Putin. Yeah, bring some money back so we can do it again.
Sounds like a fair exchange; I mean some over printed paper in the bank with someone elses head on it for some other paper with your head on it? Ofcourse I guarantee 100% that they won't get their photo back for smiling at the camera.
and Russian stocks get crushed again tomorrow at the open
Russians !
Cyprus give you an european passport för ONLY 3,5 million euro :O))
In Spain you get a "better" deal:
Spain is saying to give you an european passport IF you buy an apartment for at least 150.000 euro !
A lot cheaper passport in Spain !
Ha ha ha
But, I don't want a European passport.
High opening bid. Wait for the price to drop with increased competition/desperation. Sad to say.
What about Letters of Transit signed by Louis, the Prefect of Casablanca?
.
They're good for getting two people to Lisbon.
Bulgaria and Romania ought to be cheaper.
Unless you are totally useless in 5 years you'll probably break even (on the wrong side), though.
I'll take the Dominica passport for $100k AND their tax rates
http://www.isla-offshore.com/second-passport/dominica-citizenship-new-fees/
This is the most mind boggling fucked thing I have ever seen. We steal your money and you get to be a citizen. This really is a freak show!
Cue the Cypriotic freak show slideshow.
What's wrong with a little kiss after a good inverted rape-axe fucking?
democracy in action ))))
parts of this clip are so appropriate....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUSiCEx3e-0
I know of some guy who was foolish enough to put ALL his legally earned and after-tax money into a Cyprus bank. Only to have millions of it confiscated/stolen. That'll teach him to not diversify!
If it were me, I'd have it spread that kind of money over several continents, countries and banks. And keep some of it in Cash + PM in SD boxes in these places, but at different banks than the bank accounts. And add some cash to cyber currencies too. Just so I could sleep better at night and silently say to TPTB: "Fuck You! Fuck all of you, you parasitic, thieving slime-bags!"
But I'm probably to realistic, rational and pragmatic.
Why not just ask the replicator(s) to produce a handful of $1Trillion Pt coins? :>D
Heck, what a deal!
Why, that's only 100,000 BTC!...no, wait, that's 1,000,000 BTC!...er, no it's 10,000,000 BTC. ~~
Crikey, now it's 100,000,000 BTC.....ah, screw it - BTC might be too 'volitile' to get a handle on. Never mind.
Yeah - you get the Cyprus Passport...
AND you get to be sniggered at each time you walk thru passport control.
Sounds like "a deal".
Oh boy. You're now free to roam about 1 huge shithole.
....second prize, a set of steak knives.
Those banks can never fully open without capital controls. The only question is how long before the rest of the EU gets shut down due to the new template of allowing banks that are insolvent (all of them) to take your money.
@ Quinvarius; The FDIC is down with that template thing too;
http://www.fdic.gov/about/srac/2012/gsifi.pdf
FRom page 3 of the link above;
"12 Under the strategies currently being developed by the U.S. and the U.K., the resolution authority could intervene at the top of the group. Culpable senior management of the parent and operating businesses would be removed, and losses would be apportioned to shareholders and unsecured creditors. In all likelihood, shareholders would lose all value..."
You will take the Tunga Template and you will like it.
... let's see here, we just need to convert your savings to bank shares annnd it's gone.
Read the fine print bitchez.
"Culpable senior management of the parent and operating businesses would be removed, ..."
For proper removal procedures please see :Bin Ladin - burial of.
Hmmmm. Will Doug Casey add Cyprus to his list of nations for easy access to passports and citizenship?
At some point not so far down the road, an American might be pleased to have one from Cyprus.
The EU/EMU CANNOT afford to have Cyprus leave the EMU, period. Since Cyprus is so small, they will threaten military action to keep them in (see American Civil War).
However, the Russians could prevent that. Put up a reverse naval blockade, for example. Any attempt to put EU military forces on the ground in Cyprus would result in a stand off. At that point, Cyprus is out of the EU by default. If the Cypriots vote themselves out of the EU (which Brussels will ignore), then Russia would have a legal justification for "enforcing" a democratic decision, and would not be seen as invading part of the EU.
This may have been Putin's gambit the whole time.
Do you need a passport to park your fleet in Cyprus?
In that case a Russian poassport will be fine.
The Troika/E.C.B./E.U. wanted a template, and now they've got one. The financial fence around Cyprus is starting to show it's weak links.
Do I get a free toaster with 30% of my confiscated euros in 3 -5 years?
Can't beat having 2 passports!
Or two bank accounts, or two bars of gold or silver, or two guns, or just one politician that can warn you in advance of what is to come.
Pre-Bailouts, it was only E150,000 for a Spanish one. [Snark, previously]
Do we get to call that inflationary?
It won't be long before Cypriot passport sales can be tracked on Ebay
I can imagine a Russian showing his Cypriot passport at a Russian airport. They may as well have IDIOT written on their forehead.
My Chevy Volt spontaneously combusted. GM sent me a discount voucher towards a new Chevy Volt.
My Carnival Cruise ship broke down mid-cruise and I spent four days floating helplessly on the high seas with no food, water, or functioning toilets. Carnival Corporation sent me a lifetime membership to their "Frequent Cruiser" club.
The Bank Of Cyprus absconded with my life's savings. The Cypriot Government offered me a chance to become a citizen of Cyprus.
Fuck it - I'm taking what few assets I have left and going all-in on Herbalife.
Why 3 million and not say 1 million? Why not sell citizenship for wealth creators?
I would have liked to have seen Montana. - The Hunt for Red October
Toss in a Spiderman towel, that will make them happy.
It is all win win for Poetin. Russian depositors who moved their money out of Cyprus might come back to mother Russia. Depositors who were not able to move their deposits saw them wiped out. But they get an EU passport so they would be able to move freely throughout the EU and become sleeper agents.
I don't get this dead horse flogging!
If the EZ had done nothing and said to Cyprus : sovereign state you are on your own...no help from us, sink or swim!
What would ZH have said then?
"Well done EZ you talk like Ron PAul...."
So whats the big deal on Cyprus PER SE? Those banks were dead! Their depositors should have got NOTHING if Ron Paulism had won pure style.
If you don't want the EU passport then be a sovereign state and stop bitching; your bank money was all gone anyways!
BANKRUPT BANKS AND BANKRUPT STATE.
Why didn't they leave EZ?
It was their call! Nobody forced them to.
Savers vs Takers: The New Fault Lines and Social Unrest
An upcoming struggle is emerging in civil society. It will be between those who have money but lack the political and financial power to defend it, and those who have the political clout to take it.
In other words, the savers vs the takers. There are multiple ways in which the “takers” will get their money. Some are direct, such as the Cyprus and Australian models. Other are more indirect such as the Spanish model. Then there are the models being used in the US, UK and Canada in which depositors money and the deposit guarantees are circumvented for bank bail outs and bail ins. See more at: http://tinyurl.com/dxsqjbe