The problems that have beset Cyprus this year have an all too familiar ring to them, but the post-crisis reaction to its economic problems by Iceland show how a full investigation into the causes of a financial crisis are essential to enable a new system that is fit for purpose to be established.

Germany cannot duck its responsibility for the mismanagement of a eurozone system from which its own exporters have benefited greatly.

While regulation says that bondholders should be the ones to lose out when banks fail, the reality is that such write-downs are rarely forced.

Despite international embargoes that restrict their operations, Northern Cyprus banks are making preparations in the hope that eventually they will be included in the EU. Nick Kochan reports.

Thierry Gigant, managing director at BNP Paribas in Cyprus, tells The Banker what Cyprus has to offer financial institutions and how regulations, EU accession and joining the euro affect business.

Michael Sarris, Cyprus’s minister of finance, outlines the ambitious plans his ministry has for the country’s future and emphasises Cyprus’s regulatory alignment with the EU.

Are the Bank of Cyprus’s days numbered? Nick Kochan reports on the rival predators’ struggle for the bank, and the opposing forces of regulators and nationalists.