Laiki Bank Completes Full Divestment from Bank of Cyprus

The Bank of Cyprus announced on Wednesday that Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) Public Co Ltd, which has been in liquidation, has officially completed the disposal of its remaining shares in the institution.

This transaction marks the conclusion of Laiki's ownership in the Bank of Cyprus, leaving the now-defunct bank without any stake in the entity.

The Bank of Cyprus noted in its statement that the updated shareholder structure will soon be reflected on the bank’s website. The regulatory notification disclosed that the final tranche of 5,900,000 shares, representing 1.335% of voting rights in the Bank of Cyprus, was sold on November 18, 2024.

This transaction signifies a significant step in Laiki’s liquidation process. The sale was conducted through the liquidator, Augoustinos Papathomas, who carried out the process without personal liability. An official notification of the transaction was filed the following day, on November 19, 2024.

Previously, Laiki held a 4.859% stake in the Bank of Cyprus. With this final transaction, its holdings have been fully eliminated. The shares were part of a liquidation framework in which the Republic of Cyprus maintained an 81.5% ownership stake in Laiki.

The sale was formalized using the Standard Form TR-1, a regulatory document adhering to the disclosure requirements for significant shareholding changes. The form confirmed that Laiki’s voting rights in the Bank of Cyprus had fallen below the 4% and 3% thresholds, which are the legally mandated levels requiring notification.

With this divestment, the Bank of Cyprus now has a total of 441,851,775 voting rights. Following Laiki’s exit, the Bank of Cyprus has committed to updating details regarding its major shareholders and voting rights on its investor relations page.

Laiki Bank, which was nationalized during the 2013 financial crisis and subsequently placed under liquidation, has been steadily reducing its stake in the Bank of Cyprus over the years. This latest and final sale concludes a prolonged divestment process that spanned years.

By fLEXI tEAM