Outrage at Cyprus Stock Exchange Closure

Tax-news.com

03 September 1999

The Cyprus Stock Exchange was closed for 3 weeks until 27th September after brokers declared themselves overwhelmed and a mammoth meeting between CSE and SEC officials, investor groups, brokers and issuers failed to resolve the crisis. During the closure a long-awaited automated settlement system will be installed; critics say that this is the worst possible time to instal it and don't doubt that it will collapse immediately, just making matters worse. The bank employees' union has lifted an overtime ban to help solve the crisis. When the exchange re-opens, trading will be limited to one hour a day. While it is true that trading levels have shot up by 400% this year, many investors feel cheated by what they see as staggering incompetence and greed on the part of fat cats who run and profit from the exchange. The opposition will raise the debacle in the House of Representatives.

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