Foreign Correspondent

Cyprus: The Haircut (2013x13)

Air date: Apr 30, 2013

Imagine how you’d feel waking up one morning to discover that much of the money you’d put in your bank for safe keeping had been withdrawn. And not just by some opportunistic fraudster. A substantial slice of your savings, your company’s accounts, even your pension fund had been compulsorily acquired by the venerable Central Bank. Cypriots don’t need imagination. It’s happened. They call it - with all the black humour they can muster - The Haircut, but it’s less of a trim and more like a scalping. It has grave repercussions for Europe and the rest of the world.