Bank Of Cyprus and Swiss Franc Loans

[CyprusH]

I have been using a solicitor in Nicosia to approach the Bank of Cyprus to discuss my CHF loan and this was their recent reply:

"Please note that we had a meeting on 13/6/14 in Paphos with the Bank of Cyprus in order to discuss the terms of your loan agreement.
Unfortunately, our offer for a discount to your loan was not accepted and they are not willing to make any discount. In general I was very disappointment with our meeting since the bank is not willing to negotiate more favourable terms. Unlike Alpha Bank the Bank of Cyprus does not give any schemes or does not re-negotiate the loans agreements of their customers."

Has anyone had any success with the BoC

Kind regards

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi CyprusH and welcome to the forum.

From what I understand of the situation, many of those who took CHF loans to buy property from the Alpha Bank were not advised of the risks involved.

However, this does not necessarily apply to customers of the Bank of Cyprus. From what I understand the BoC is willing to renegotiate if they failed to advise borrowers of the risks involved in foreign currency loans.

I suggest you check the loan agreement and the accompanying paperwork.

Regards,

[CyprusH]

Hi Nigel

Many thanks for your feedback.

My main issue is not with mis-selling but is that the bank increased there margin from 1.75% to 4.5% as the euribor rate went down. There is a clause in the contract that says "The bank has the right, at its discretion, within the framework of the law, the regulations for monetary control of credit in force from time to time, the market conditions and liquidity costs, to vary at any time the margin" As I understand it just because the euribor rate has been reduced does not give the bank the right to increase there margin (and profit) by the exact same percentage. Unfortunately I am not in a position to take legal action against the bank but would welcome be a contributing silent partner in a class action as I am sure that one there is a test case on the issue the situation will become far clearer

[Nigel Howarth]

You may like to read the article at http://budapestbeacon.com/economics/hun ... customers/ concerning FX loan contracts in Hungary - and also this one in the Financial Times http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5358f2a2 ... z36bwld4C9

Hungary is a member of the European Union, but whether the Cypriot government has the intestinal fortitude to enact such a bill is questionable. The banks have little money.

There are no class actions in Cyprus - representative actions yes.

Regards,

[CyprusH]

Very interesting, thanks Nigel