Finchley & Golders Green MP Mike Freer has today held an urgent meeting with Cypriot High Commissioner Alexandros Zenon at the Houses of Parliament to discuss the ongoing banking problems on the island. The Commercial Counsellor from the High Commission, Philippos Christofi, was also in attendance.
A number of UK based businesses who held accounts with Laiki Bank before its closure are facing ongoing problems with frozen accounts and restricted access to capital. Laiki business customers whose accounts were transferred to Bank of Cyprus UK have been able to access their accounts without any problems, but those customers whose accounts were held or transferred to Cyprus have encountered a number of serious issues by virtue of their accounts now being based on the island.
The President of Cyprus will be visiting the UK in June and the MPs requested the Finance Minister participate in the visit in order he can meet with British representatives. The High Commissioner also confirmed that regular updates are available on the Ministry of Finance website, as well as the Central Bank of Cyprus website.
Mike Freer MP speaking from the House of Commons said, “A lot of businesses in Barnet and other areas of North London are being affected through no fault of their own. It cannot be right that small companies based in and trading in London are having access to their money restricted because of the problems in Cyprus. This needs sorting out and I was pleased with the progress we made today.”
The meeting was held in Westminster and Mike Freer was accompanied by Nick de Bois and Andy Love on behalf of the North London Members of Parliament.