Bank of Cyprus has launched a website where all property it owns and wants to sell is listed with a minimum sale price set.
The page hosts a total of 23 properties owned by the island’s biggest lender in Cyprus, Greece, Britain and Romania.
“New properties will be added on the webpage periodically. Bids for each piece of real estate will be accepted for a month – starting the day it was posted on the page,” a BoC press release said.
“If the property remains unsold after a month, the lender will consider the bids in order of priority based on the date they were submitted,” it added.
For more information on the properties that are up for sale and the bidding procedure, visit the bank’s website: www.bankofcyprus.com (Properties for sale).
Last week, the island’s real estate agents association objected to the bidding procedure even though this is regular practice by banks all over the world.
An insider told The Cyprus Daily: “Calling for bids is a sign of transparency and proper sales procedure…the bank has some 600-700 properties for sale here and abroad, especially in London”.
He added: “They are mostly branches or other assets of former Laiki Bank”.
BoC had to absorb collapsed Laiki in March last year as part of the economic bailout provisions by the island’s international lenders.
But BoC sources have already dismissed a connection between the new webpage and possible future repossessions from owners in Cyprus who cannot pay back their loans.
“Repossessions are not the lender’s main objective, this is not what the management aims at, far from it,” a source said.
Nonetheless, it is widely believed that big developers whose red loans total up to €6 billion will undergo repossessions at one point.
At the same time, the lender expects to complete its capital issuance procedure by October, according to a confidential information leaflet distributed to potential investors.
The 500-page document presents in detail the financial status quo and future plans of BoC and includes the various steps in the process to issue capital.
BoC is looking to yield about €1 billion in new capital aiming to increase its common equity tier 1 to 15% up from the current 10.6%, while any new shares will be listed on the stock markets in Cyprus and Athens.
In the long term, the bank will consider listing the shares at a major stock market in Europe.
Cyprus Weekly
