Large depositors in the Bank of Cyprus will get back 37.5% of their money in shares instead of cash, but they may be worth nothing, analysts have warned.
The move is the part of the painful Cyprus rescue package, but analysts say the shares offered are "near worthless".
"If the bank can pull a rabbit out of a hat, and somehow make what appears to be near worthless shares somehow very valuable, then these depositors have some hope that they'll be receiving some of their money back," Daniel Wagner, CEO of Country Risk Solutions, told RT.
At Bank of Cyprus, about 22.5% of deposits over EUR 100,000 will earn no interest.
The rest of the account will generate interest, but will not be repaid until the bank shows a strong performance and this is highly unlikely to happen.