# Bank of Cyprus **Bank of Cyprus** is a Cypriot bank that, after its 2013 bail-in, became partly owned by Russian investors and co-governed by future Commerce Secretary [[Wilbur Ross]]. ## The 2013 bail-in Before 2013, Russian deposits in Cypriot banks were estimated at $26–31 billion. In the March 2013 banking crisis, uninsured depositors at Bank of Cyprus were converted into shareholders; that is how [[Viktor Vekselberg]] and former KGB officer Vladimir Strzhalkovsky became owners, after about half their uninsured deposits were turned into equity. ## Wilbur Ross In 2014 Ross led the U.S. investor group in the bank's €1 billion capital raise and proposed a new board, installing former Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann as chairman. Ross served as vice chairman from 2014 until the end of 2016; Strzhalkovsky had preceded him in that role and left the board in 2015. Vekselberg's Renova group became the second-largest shareholder, and Ackermann sat on Renova's board. [[Dmitry Rybolovlev]] was also a major shareholder. Ross at one point reportedly held an 18% stake worth $424 million, but his pre-confirmation disclosure listed $1–5 million; CREW questioned whether he fully divested. In February 2017 six Democratic senators asked about his Vekselberg ties. The U.S. sanctioned Vekselberg on April 6, 2018. ## RWKB angle A Trump cabinet secretary co-governed a bank whose Russian owners emerged from the 2013 bail-in — one of the less-examined Russia threads in the first Trump administration. ## See Also - [[Wilbur Ross]] - [[Viktor Vekselberg]] - [[Cyprus Confidential]]