Winners and losers from 'astonishing' Cyprus deposit tax plan

Cyprus' plan for an unprecedented 10% tax on savers has been dubbed a "monumental error of judgement" by one commentator, but it does leave some assets looking attractive.

Outcry over the tax, branded "astonishing" by Goldman Sachs chairman Jim O'Neill, has forced the Cypriot government back in to talks to renegotiate part of the bailout plan. President Nicos Anastasiades had previously agreed to raise €5.8bn from taxing bank deposits as a condition for receiving a €10bn package from international lenders. Deposits over €100,000 would have been taxed at 9.9%, and 6.75% would have been levied on deposits below that level. The tax would not just have penalised Cypriots but a large number of overseas investors, including UK expatriates, and would have e...