Bank of Cyprus

After Friday's unexpected gains, Greek stocks conceded some ground on Monday, with banks giving up the most. However, losses were contained significantly during the closing auctions, with Coca-Cola HBC, the market's biggest company by capitalization, posting a remarkable recovery in the last 15 minutes of trading.

Wilbur Ross, US President-elect Donald Trump's likely pick for commerce secretary, told a Greek investment forum in New York he is looking forward to his investment in Greece finally paying dividends.

Stocks moved within a particularly narrow range in on Tuesday's trading session at Athinon Avenue, as the entire economy was hoping for a concrete token of support to come from US President Barack Obama's visit to Athens. Eventually the benchmark closed near the day's low, with banks taking quite a hit compared to other stocks.

Bank of Cyprus, the East Mediterranean island's largest lender, said Tuesday it would apply for a listing on the London Stock Exchange as part of its restructuring drive.

"We are delighted to be applying for a listing on the London Stock Exchange, which marks another significant step in the bank's transformation," said BoC chairman Josef Ackermann in a statement.

Piraeus Bank announced late on Friday that it is absorbing the healthy part of Panellinia, a small cooperative bank that failed to complete its required share capital increase.

By Michele Kambas

Cyprus freed capital flows on Monday, ending two years of controls that set an unwanted precedent for the euro zone at the height of the bloc's debt crisis.

The Mediterranean nation became the first and, to date, the only euro zone member to impose controls, acting to stem a flight of capital from its banks in March 2013.

Bank of Cyprus said on Wednesday it posted a 256-million-euro loss for 2014, mainly on increased provisions for exposure to Russia.

?The results of the fourth quarter... were negatively affected by increased provisions relating... to impairments in Russia,? CEO John Patrick Hourican said in a statement.

NICOSIA ? Arsonists torched two cars early on Tuesday outside the home of the head of Bank of Cyprus, who has overseen a major restructuring of the island?s largest lender, police said.

John Patrick Hourican ? a former Royal Bank of Scotland senior executive who joined BoC in October 2013 ? was out of the country on business at the time of the arson attack.

By Nikos Roussanoglou

Investors are still drawn to the Greek property market despite the continued uncertainty, which may increase risk but also keeps prices low, experts say.

Cypriot lenders Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank said on Tuesday they had no material impact from the Swiss National Bank?s decision to scrap its cap on the Swiss franc against the euro.

Bank of Cyprus, the country?s largest lender, said its lending exposure in Swiss francs totaled 1.09 billion euros on December 31, representing 4.6 percent of total gross loans.