Cyprus
A number of members of Cyprus's parliament have told CNBC that the legislation to tax bank deposits is unlikely to pass, a move that could potentially put the country into default.
Parliament is due to convene at 4 p.m. London time on Tuesday and despite the ruling party saying they will approve the proposal, several parties have said they will reject the levy. No single party has a majority in the 56-member chamber to push through the vote.
"At this point in time, we are saying [to international lenders] that if you think that by doing this you are fixing things, by actually destroying our economy and one of the biggest and strongest financial sectors we had on this island, then we have to say 'no'," Efi Xanthou, international relations secretary of the Cyprus Green Party told CNBC.
"We do not want to have this island in the throttle of these organizations for the next ten to fifteen years," Xanthou, who also sits on the parliamentary finance committee, said in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia on Tuesday.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades briefed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU economics affairs commissioner Olli Rehn on Monday evening, reportedly stating that he was ready to stand by what was agreed at a euro zone finance ministers' meeting last week but insisting that EU partners offer some additional help," spokesman Christos Stylianides told state radio on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Cyprus Stock Exchange suspended trading on Tuesday and Wednesday, while banks remain closed and Fitch Ratings put a number of Cyprus banks on negative ratings watch.
Efi Xanthou said that whatever decision was made, as soon as the banks opened, there would be a "stampede" of investors rushing to withdraw their money. "No depositor, no matter how big or small their accounts, will feel safe," Xanthou added.
The Cyprus government spokesman said the President was also likely to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the day. A decision to tax bank deposits has far-reaching consequences not just for locals but for thousands of Europeans and Russians with business interests on the island.
Athina Kyriakidou, a member of the parliament and a coalition partner to the ruling Democratic Rally party, told CNBC that she would be proposing an amendment to the levy in an effort to avert Europe's effort to "destroy Cyprus financially."
fears have grown that savers in other, larger European countries become nervous and start withdrawing funds.
"If you're a small depositor in Cyprus you'll tell yourself that it would have been better to keep your money under the carpet than in a bank," said a French bank executive who declined to be named.
"And if you're a Greek, a Spaniard or an Italian, well, you'll tell yourself that you might be next."
www.cnbc.com/id/100565902
So nothing will start rolling until after 4pm this afternoon!
@Pheony...I think Putin has already given the Cypriots a choice of Polonium or Panzas
An angry phone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin received early Sunday morning, Nikos Anastasiadis.
The Putin reportedly said verbatim in-Cypriot President
-Καλύτερα να βάλεις την γερμανική σημαία στο Προεδρικό Μέγαρο. -Better to put the German flag at the Presidential Palace. Δεν έχεις καταλάβει πως με αυτή την απόφαση καταστρέφεις τη χώρα σου; Do not you understand that this decision destroy your country?
Πως θα υπάρξουν τράπεζες την Τρίτη; Ποιος θα τις εμπιστεύεται; Εάν προχωρήσετε σ΄αυτή την ενέργεια ξεχάστε μας... How banks will be Tuesday; Who will you trust? If you go on this field we forget ...
translate.google.com/translate?sl=el&tl=...articles%2F19408.htm
Jane
Bit long, I'm half way through, thank goodness for the little slidy bar at the bottom! 
