Dear shareholders and distinguished guests, I'm pleased to welcome you to the 10th Annual General Meeting of Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I'd like to thank you for joining us today.
[Non-English content].
Dear shareholders, distinguished guests, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Annual General Meeting of the Bank of Cyprus. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for being here, and I would also like to request your cooperation. The Chairman, the Executive Financial Director, and other members of the Board of Directors, and internal and external legal advisors, are at your disposal to respond to any question. Now I would like to give the floor to the Secretary of the Board of Directors.
We have 43 shareholders attending today's meeting, either in person or via proxies. This corresponds to 32.25% of the bank's share capital, which is equivalent to 140,595,769 shares. I would now like to invite both the Chairman and the CEO to address the shareholders. I would like to remind you that the speeches of both the Chairman and the CEO addressing the shareholders are also available on the company's website. Mr. Chairman?
Thank you, Katia.
[Non-English content], Katia. [Non-English content] .
Quite indeed, interest rates, as it all depends on the duration and extent of the moving parts. Interest rate increases in response to inflationary pressures usually take six months to a year to feed through to the economy, by which time inflation could be subsiding. While keeping interest rates steady, as we are doing now, may have a more stabilizing result medium term. In Europe, despite the original plan for possible rate cuts, two in fact, in 2026, inflationary pressures started, as we all know, to surface before the start of the Iran War. Perhaps now, as a result, the base case for rate reductions will probably be put on hold until there is more visibility on geopolitics.
At the same time, oil prices, which affect everyone, will perhaps stay at the current high levels given the continued high demand, the constriction in oil supply and oil flows, as well as the absence of any indication of the so-called demand destruction elements. Cyprus, like many other countries, faces risks arising from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. These developments may lead to a weaker tourism performance and increased inflationary pressures, particularly through elevated energy prices, with the overall impact depending, of course, on the duration of the conflict. Cyprus is well positioned to withstand these challenges thanks to its resilient and open economy, which has historically outperformed the euro area and strong physical fundamentals. This robust foundation enables the country to respond effectively to external shocks and support both households and businesses throughout periods of global uncertainty.
As you will have noticed from our financial results and various announcements, our overall performance in 2025 was successful. We met and exceeded all of our quantitative and qualitative targets, enabling us to increase our payout ratio to the top end of our dividend policy of 70%. This strong performance is reflected in the significant increase in the Bank of Cyprus share price last year. Going forward, the bank will focus on maintaining our successful path, delivering sustainable and resilient profitability, and attractive and sustainable shareholder returns, up to 90% of full year earnings in 2026 and up to 100% in 2027 and 2028, respectively, subject, of course, to market conditions as well as the outcome of the group's ongoing capital and liquidity planning strategy at the time.
We will defend against emerging risks while further intensifying our digital initiatives, including AI integration, and enriching our business model organically with new products and services. We will also explore inorganic growth through bolt-on acquisitions, where they align with our clear criteria but using mindfully our valuable capital. Our robust capital and liquidity positions provide us with a strong foundation to handle foreseeable challenges and execute our strategic plan. On behalf of all the members of the board, I'd like to congratulate and thank once again our CEO, Panicos Nicolaou, his executive team, and all the bank employees for their efforts and commitment throughout the year, which produced such stellar results, probably the best-ever results for the bank.
Finally, I wish to thank all the members, my fellow members of our Board of Directors, for their commitment and diligence in working together with the bank's executive team, providing valuable guidance and direction in their successful performance. We will continue to offer best-in-class service to our customers, protect our shareholders, while maintaining the resilience and credibility that has long defined Bank of Cyprus. Thank you. I would now like to invite the CEO, Panicos Nicolaou, to take the floor.
[Non-English content] .
Please allow me to speak in English for our shareholders who are here present or virtually connected with us, my speech will take a bit more than the Chairman because you're going to present also the results of 2025 and 2026. He speaks in English.
This is an important opportunity to take stock of 2025, to consider the current performance, and to outline our priorities over the coming years. 2025 was another strong year for Bank of Cyprus in which we delivered an attractive profitability of EUR 481 million and return on tangible equity of 18.6% on a strong capital-based CET1 of 21%. Our strong financial performance and capital generation in 2025 enabled us to significantly increase the shareholder distribution payout ratio to 70%, which is the top end of our distribution policy. In total, the dividend out of 2025 earnings amounted to EUR 305 million, around exactly EUR 0.70 per share. We have built a strong track record of distribution to our shareholders.
We have now paid almost EUR 550 million of cumulative dividend distributions over the last two financial years, and we are committed to continue to deliver attractive and sustainable shareholder returns, subject, of course, to market conditions. Importantly, our strong performance also enabled us to maintain a robust capital position while increasing shareholder distributions. This combination of two is very important. Bank of Cyprus is one of the most highly capitalized banks in Europe. We are able to deliver these strong results because our bank is in a very strong and good shape. We have a diversified business model holding leading positions in banking, in insurance, and payments, as well as operating, and this is also important, the leading mobile bank. This gives us a unique position in our relationships with our customers in Cyprus.
Of course, we operate in an economy with good growth and that has traditionally demonstrated resilience to external shocks. Please allow me now to provide some overview of the performance of the Cypriot economy, starting with the Cypriot economy for 2025 before discussing the performance of the group for the same year. Cyprus has a diversified service-based economy to continue to demonstrate resilience and growth despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. The economy grew by 3.8% in 2025, significantly outperforming the euro area average of 1.5%. Growth was broad-based, supported by the IT sector, record tourism arrivals, low unemployment, and low inflation. In addition, Cyprus' public debt to GDP continued to decline, falling to 55% as of December 2025, well below the euro average of 88%. The public finances strengthened in 2025, recording a budget surplus of 2.5% of GDP.
The vitality of the Cypriot economy is reflected in strong sovereign credit ratings, three notches above investment grade. Despite the current ceasefire agreement, the conflict in the Middle East has elevated global uncertainty, which in turn poses risks for the European and global economies. Anything affecting the European economy could also affect the Cypriot economy through weaker tourism activity and higher energy prices. The full impact, as the Chairman said, of the conflict in the economy remains uncertain. It will depend largely on its duration. Nonetheless, Cyprus has consistently demonstrated remarkable flexibility and resilience in the face of external shocks, including the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and previous instability in the Middle East.
In fact, two days ago, we have seen that the growth of the economy for the first quarter was 3%; actually, it was the best in not only Eurozone but in the euro area, which has an average of 0.8%. Q1 also included March, which was a month after the war started. Furthermore, the Cypriot government's robust fiscal position enabled us to take decision action to mitigate others' effects. Specifically, in response to heightened, elevated energy costs, the government has introduced a comprehensive package of financial support measures, totaling over EUR 200 million, aiming to provide relief to both households and businesses. For individuals, it aims to increase the burden of increased living expenses while for businesses, particularly those in the tourism sector, it offers targeted support to sustain operations and employment during this period of uncertainty.
Going forward, and despite the ongoing conflict, forecasts from international and local agencies still suggest that GDP growth will remain strong in the medium term. Recent official forecasts suggest GDP growth in the range of 2.7%-2.9% for 2026, compared to 3% in December 2025, due, of course, to the ongoing geopolitical tensions. As this forecast suggests, the impact of the conflict on the economy, as per the current state of affairs, appears to be manageable. Naturally, of course, as we already mentioned, this will depend on how this conflict will evolve in the future and how it will be ended, I would say. I will add. Moving on to Bank of Cyprus, Bank of Cyprus financial performance for 2025. It was another strong year for the bank, demonstrated by our financial and operational performance.
We delivered attractive profitability with profit after tax of EUR 481 million, equivalent to a solid return on tangible equity of 18.6%, and basic earnings per share of EUR 1.10. We supported our customers and the Cypriot economy with record new lending of EUR 3 billion, 23%, increased year-on-year, while maintaining strict underwriting standards. Gross performing loans increased by 8% year-on-year to EUR 10.9 billion. We strengthened our capital and liquidity positions further, with our CET1 and total capital ratio reaching 21% and 25.9%, respectively. Our retail fund and deposit base increased by 8% year-on-year to EUR 22.2 billion. Our capital and liquidity ratios are among the highest in Europe. We maintained healthy asset quality, with our NPE ratio falling to 1.2%.
As I have said, the strong performance in 2025 enabled us to significantly increase the shareholder distribution, both in terms of payout ratio to 70%, the top end of our distribution policy, but also in quantum to EUR 305 million, which is a 25% increase versus the previous year. We paid EUR 87.20 per share as an interim dividend in October 2025, which was the first time we paid interim dividends since 2011. The remaining EUR 218 million cash dividend or EUR 0.50 per share is scheduled to be paid in June, a month from now, subject, of course, to your approval today. This represents a total dividend of EUR 0.70 per share, or circa a 45% increase in cash dividend year-on-year. This distribution is by far the largest since we started paying dividends in 2022.
It represents 9% yield for 2025 based on the share price on the 31st of December 2025. We have targets in 2025, and we met and exceeded our 2025 targets, giving us confidence that we will remain a very profitable bank in a normalized interest-rate environment. In summary, we delivered a resilient net interest income of EUR 731 million. We are pleased with these results, which demonstrated that through higher loan and deposit volumes and increased hedging activity, we are able to absorb the effect of the rate reductions. A strong cost efficiency ratio to 37% reflecting our disciplined cost management. Cost of risk below 14 basis points, demonstrating continued high asset quality. A very healthy organic capital generation in excess of 400 basis points pre-distribution that goes well ahead of our full-year target of 300 basis points.
Of course, a strong profitability with a return on tangible equity on 18.6% on a CET1 ratio of 21%. In addition to achieving all of these targets, which are numerical and you can see the numbers, we continue to invest in our digital offering. This is very important for us. We are proud to have the leading digital bank in Cyprus that offers our customers the ability to conduct all of their banking activities with us via their phone. We offer anytime, anywhere, instant and automated credit decisions across products ranging from mortgages, car loans, credit cards, insurance, buy now, pay later products. Moreover, we support customers with their everyday banking needs during the different stages of their life, starting from a very young age where financial education is paramount to their early adulthood years and beyond.
Our advanced digital offering has been rightly recognized, and for seven consecutive years, we received from Global Finance the world's best digital bank in Cyprus award. Let's see now how we started the year. First quarter results were announced on Monday. I will now briefly summarize some of the key points from our first quarter results, which, as I said, we publish on Monday and are available on the group's website. We delivered another strong performance in the first three months of 2026. We recorded a profit after tax of EUR 121 million, and our key performance metric, return on tangible equity, remained strong at 18% above our full-year target of meeting its return. We continue to demonstrate efficiency with a cost to income ratio of 37%.
Our performing loan book grew by 7% year-on-year to EUR 11.1 billion, supported by a very strong new lending for the quarter of EUR 821 million. Our credit quality remained robust with our NPE ratio. Despite being low, it continued to reduce from 1.2% to 1.1%. Our balance sheet continues to benefit from a robust capital position thanks to the strong organic capital generation and high liquidity. Our deposit base continued to increase up 8% on the prior year to EUR 22.3 billion. Our CET1 ratio and total capital ratios stood at 20.7% and 25.5%, respectively, including the Q1 profitability but net of accrual of the ordinary dividend of 70% payout ratio. Our strong performance in the first quarter provided us with confidence and the ability to achieve our targets for the full year of 2026. What are our priorities going forward?
On the 3rd of March this year, 2026, we had our investors' day in Athens, where we announced our strategic priorities and business plan for the next three years. This business plan presented was drawn up prior to the events in Iran. To the extent that the economic environment in which we operate changes, our plans will evolve. Our priorities remain unchanged, which are to generate sustainable and resilient profitability and attractive and sustainable shareholder returns. The word "sustainable" is deliberately chosen for each priority, reflecting the attitude of myself and my management team. Those of you who have followed us over the past few years will recognize that we have consistently managed the Bank with a clear focus on delivery, not only in the short term, but most importantly, in the long term.
In order to achieve our financial strategic priorities, we have to announce and we have announced several financial targets for the period 2026 to 2028. Briefly, we expect to deliver mid-teens return on tangible equity over the next three years. This will be despite our capital ratios remaining well above the 15%. Based though on a 15% CET1 ratio, this will translate into a return on tangible equity of over 20% throughout the period 2026-2028. This level of profitability supports strong organic capital generation of 350-400 basis points per annum. We will, of course, maintain our focus on careful cost management as we have done for several years while continuing to invest in IT, including artificial intelligence. The cost to income ratio is expected to remain around 40% throughout the period 2026-2028.
We will continue to protect our balance sheet and maintain high asset quality with continued application of meticulous underwriting standards. We expect the cost of risk to be at the lower end of our long-established normalized range of 40-15 basis points guidance offered over the next three years. We will remain committed to a meaningful distribution, introducing for the first time top-up dividends. We expect the total payout ratio to reach up to 90% for 2026 profitability and up to 100% per year for 2027 and 2028, well exceeding the top end of our distribution policy of 70%. These distributions are, of course, subject to market conditions as well as the outcome of the group's ongoing capital and liquidity planning strategy at the time.
In summary, Bank of Cyprus performance in 2025 was strong, which enabled us to deliver on our commitment of attractive shareholder returns with a 25% increase in the total distribution year-on-year. To reiterate that, the EUR 305 million distribution from 2025 earnings is by far the largest since we started paying dividends in 2022. Today, the bank is in a very good shape. It is the leading bank in Cyprus with strong customer relationships and has the leading digital offering. In addition, it operates in an economy that has traditionally demonstrated resilience to external shocks and consistently outperformed the euro area. This, combined with our proven ability to execute our strategy, gives us confidence today in our ability to deliver sustainable and increasingly attractive shareholder returns over the coming years. Nevertheless, geopolitical uncertainty remains high, and the extent of the impact on the Cypriot economy is still unclear.
The actions we have taken in recent years, coupled with our strong performance in 2025, mean that Bank of Cyprus is well positioned to deal with this current uncertainty. To the extent that the economic environment in which we operate changes, of course, our plans will evolve. At the head of our business is our customers. As we demonstrated in 2025, for example, the launch of the first Digital Housing Loan in Cyprus. We'll continue to innovate and enhance our products and services to meet our customer needs and ensure the best experience possible. As the leading financial services group in Cyprus, of course, Bank of Cyprus is at the center of the Cypriot economy. It is a responsibility that we take seriously. The bank is a major contributor to the Cypriot society and culture.
Our multi-decade support for Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre and the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation are just two clear examples among many others. The bank will remain a pillar of stability to the Cypriot economy and a proud support of the Cypriot society and culture. Everything we do at Bank of Cyprus is a team effort. I would like to thank the members of my executive team and all my colleagues whose commitment to serving our customers and delivering results drives our performance. Thank you, our shareholders, for your investment and constructive feedback and engagement during the year. I'm also extremely grateful to the chairman of the board of directors and the rest of the members for their continued support and trust. Needless to say that I am extremely proud and honored to lead this great institution. Thank you all very much.
Thank you. Thank you, Panicos. We're now moving on to the business of the annual general meeting and the proposed resolutions. As indicated in the notice of the meeting, we will take all resolutions on a poll vote by means of electronic voting. I therefore ask Katia Santis, the company secretary, to elaborate.
Chairman, under Article 62A of BOC Holdings Articles of Association, the chairman is entitled to demand a poll on any resolution.
I presume that all of you have read the AGM notice with the proposed resolution and the agenda-related documents. The notices include the agenda for the ordinary and special business of the AGM, as well as explanations for each agenda item. The notice is both in English and Greek and has been posted on the bank's website, and all agenda-related reports are available on the bank's website. Any questions or comments you may have about all of these reports and proposed resolutions can be raised later in the meeting. Unless there are any objections, we can consider these documents as already read. If no objections, we skip this part. The poll is now open for all the resolutions on today's agenda. I invite the secretary to explain how the shareholders may exercise their vote through the Lumi application.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You can see the website onto which you can log in using your shareholder ID and the password there in order to view the screens. Then you'll be able to see the polling icon on the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen where all resolutions and voting choices will be displayed. To vote, you simply select your voting direction from the options shown on screen. A confirmation message will appear to show your vote has been received. To change your vote, you simply choose another direction. If you wish to cancel your vote, please press cancel. You may vote or change your vote at any time during the meeting until the chairman announces the closing of the voting on the resolutions. At that point, your last choice will be submitted.
The chairman has opened the voting for all the resolutions. You have to look at your screen. The bar also at the top bottom of your screen. There you can find the resolutions and the choices. In order to vote, you choose one of the available choices which are on your screen. We will see an approved message for the receipt of your vote. In order to change your vote, choose another choice. If you wish to cancel your vote, press cancellation. You can vote or change your votes during the AGM until the chairman announces the completion of the voting. At this point, your last choice will be chosen, I mean, prior to the closing of this voting.
In the Lumi application, as usual, or orally if the question is posed by a shareholder physically present at this meeting. I would kindly ask you to be brief and to the point when submitting questions related to the AGM's agenda only. We will only take questions that are relevant to the business of the AGM, and let's make that clear. We allocate 15 minutes for questions. Katia will keep us posted. We have one question, please.
Yes. Stefanos Hailis from Senvest. Just a comment. Senvest, as the bank's largest shareholder, would like to congratulate Panicos Nicolaou and the executive team for the continuing strong financial performance and for the great support it is providing to the Cypriot economy as well. With regards to the 70% dividend payout and the top-up dividend of up to 20% for 2026 and up to 30% for 2027-2028, we consider these payouts essential for the bank's shares to continue to provide attractive returns to investors. We also need to stress that the international investment community fully expects that the bank's top-up dividend will be at the top of the stated range. Thank you.
Other questions?
[Non-English content] .
We'll speak in English so that the foreign people can hear in English.
The people that saw their shares diminishing in value. The association sent a note congratulating the bank for its successful years and also making a request. My comments contain the request at the end of it. The request is that a small part of the profits over a number of years is allocated through a scheme to the old shareholders in order to remedy the loss they suffered. Years ago, the bank had a campaign which said, [Non-English content] , big and humane. We want to remind you of this. It also had another ad which said, [Non-English content] think of it and it's doable. I suspect that we will not have progress because you will say it's not doable. Everything is doable. The bank surely spends a lot of money in advertising.
It also has a social program, as Panicos mentioned just a few minutes ago. The best advertisement for the bank is to make such a gesture to the 90,000 shareholders who are your customers, who are shareholders of this bank for the last three, four, five generations. We are what's called [Non-English content] , and this is the request, and I wish that the board will consider it seriously. It's a win-win for the bank. Thank you.
Thank you, Stavros. I will start by saying that, okay, CSR, marketing, customer benefits is totally different from rewarding the shareholders. I would just like to emphasize that this bank and the board of directors, as you can understand, because you know how things work, we are actually responsible to take care of our current shareholders, which have invested in the bank and have supported the bank. To the extent that the old shareholders are current shareholders, I'm sure that they enjoy the benefits of the higher dividend payout ratios. We understand your request, but this is our response today. No.
[Non-English content] .
I would like to congratulate you for the results. Panicos, this reply is very disappointing because you have not requested money from shareholders, and the shareholders will reply to you, "No, they are not ready to give for the next 10 years 2% of the net profits of the bank as one social provision to these people who, in brackets, sacrificed in order for the bank to remain alive." You're not talking about compensation. You're talking about social awareness or social sensibility. Without even demanding it, I've spoken with important shareholders of the bank, and they can work within the social profits. I mean, a small percentage of the banks. We are talking about 90,000 people who sacrificed themselves, and I see many of them here, or a number of those are not here. Two people who over 10 years were here.
Every time they would submit this request, today they are not with us. Both died in the last year, two of them I found I mean, I know because for them it was an economic disaster from the haircut of their shares in 2013. The management rejects this suggestion without saying that, "Yes, we can a small percentage." If the shareholders refuse it, or you can say that I am the chairman, the shareholders do not agree with that. That's it.
I mean, that's it, the reply to your request. I would like to remind you that you have the depositors prior to the shareholders, and the depositors come first. Correct? There is an order, let's say. Any shareholder, you can submit a resolution and close it to the microphone, please. I believe that you understand, and I hope you understand.
Please, your microphone. No. No. Off the microphone. Off the microphone, please. This is not what I'm saying. I'm saying that the depositors come first because they went through a bail-in, and they also suffered from haircuts. I'm talking about depositors. Let's say the 47%. Yes, shareholders. 113? Yes, there is an order, if I understand. Yes. The suggestion is to take this decision to the existing shareholders. If you do not wish to submit this suggestion to the shareholders, it's another story.
Panicos. Now he speaks in English.
Shareholders sounds like an excuse. What we are proposing is something which is beneficial to the bank. The publicity you will receive, the respect which has been with you for all these years, is more important than what you're saying. Thank you. Okay.
[Non-English content].
I would like to come back to what has been said because I tabled a suggestion last year, and I will repeat it. To have equal, I mean, all shareholders, because I believe that this is done, it could be done to purchase a number of shares at a higher price. I mean, those who have 10, 18 shares, purchase them at the price of 100 shares for all the shareholders. I believe that this can be done. There is the principle of treat all the shareholders equally. Yes, this is what I'm saying. Yes, this is by law. Yes, I'm saying that from all shareholders, the first 20 shares in 100 shares, sorry, EUR 100 per share, this means equal. I have other questions which are irrelevant to this topic.
How do you see the, or rather, how this situation, the political situation, whether this affects the economy of Cyprus because you have a problem with tourism, reduced tourists, and you can see that the bank goes very fast to digital transformation, digital bank, so more things are being done digitally. We reduce the number of the banks and also the number of employees are being also reduced. Sometimes when I go to a bank, I see that there is a long queue. Also, which new things digitally you wish to do? The last remark. Of course, it's more an operational one, but I would like the board of directors to know that we see that in three bank departments, I mean, to misinform the clients. He gives erroneous information.
Later in person, I would like to share with you these examples because I believe that this is very serious. With regard to your opinion about the economy and the future economy, Mr. Nicolaou mentioned in his presentation.
Maybe you lost the moment. I mean, we said that you are very positive. We believe that the economy of Cyprus is very resilient and it can take the shocks as the Bank has proven to date. With regard to digital transformation, we can speak about, I mean, here for an hour, to bring here the experts and to see what they are doing from AI or digital transformation. We spend EUR 80 million per year in technology. Technology we purchase today, in three years it's finished. We have to repurchase.
It's very difficult for us to make provisions on what we are going to do or what amount will be spent. If you have more information about the technology, we have experts to explain to you. This is not up to the AGM to talk about it in other topics that the previous speakers referred. It's also not AGM. To close it, we are going to rethink your proposal. Microphone.
Yes, a shareholder. My dad was a previous shareholder. My dad had about 1 million shares of Bank of Cyprus, like the gentleman here next to me, that they lost them all, plus EUR 2 million in deposits from a private business. That didn't stop me from investing significantly in the share price when it was significantly undervalued in late 2021. I made more than 10 x of that sum in profits. Every year we hear this story. You come here, you address the board, different board of a different company, requesting some remuneration for previous capital structure. As Panicos actually said, I think it wasn't conveyed correctly, maybe, or you didn't. The first one that lost money is the depositor. Then is the subordinated bondholder, the senior bondholder. Then we have the shareholder.
If anyone was going to get any money from not this company, from maybe some charity, because what you're asking is possibly for the current shareholders, which, well, made millions, to create a fund, like a charity fund, and compensate you guys. If the first one from this supposed charity entitled to any funds should be the average depositor that lost money. Again, the question is not applicable. We hear it every year. I'd like to remind you that a lot of us, our families, our parents, and all the shareholders lost a lot of money, but there was the opportunity that, unfortunately, people didn't take advantage of. I think this matter shouldn't be addressed to these gentlemen and women that we have in front of us. Thank you so much [Non-English content].
[Non-English content]
[audio distortion].
Something else? You are being accused about super profits, but in public, I have never had a reply. Would you call all those populists, for me, dangerous people, to explain where the profits and overprofits, I mean, what do they believe are profits and overprofits? If you can help us, I would appreciate it.
No, no, my question is addressed to you. Let us, those who can reply, I mean, profits and overprofits, and give a reply because many people do not know that the Bank of Cyprus does not pay only this percentage, corporate percentage. You are saying that the bank pays the tax? The huge majority of people, and we have people on channels, and so please. How many millions are spent or provided to social performance? These are in the text of the speech by Mr. Nicolaou. Microphone, please. Microphone.
They're not going to do what the channels wait from us. I'm sorry. This is not an issue for the AGM. I would like to remind Andreas that in many, many events or meetings with journalists, they have commented many times the issue of the taxation of overproceeds of the banks. Sometimes it's better not to cause more discussions. A suggestion. Years ago, the bank gave bonds, company bonds also to private clients with EUR 5,000, EUR 10,000. I would like you to go through that, whether you can do that again. Why? Can you tell me, just to give an opportunity to some people who do not have maybe EUR 100,000 or EUR 200,000 to purchase the bonds of the Bank of Cyprus to do it? In the past, the bank has done this. Also other banks were doing this.
In the recent years, this is not happening. We are addressing ourselves only to large companies for lots of money. This is a suggestion, of course. I cannot force you to do it. It's a good suggestion. Just put, I don't know, EUR 20,000 to issue a bond, and everybody could, I mean, anybody could buy the issue of these bonds and to give it to private investors. The rules which concern this problem and the regulatory framework have been developed a lot during, I mean, 2000, 2013. As you know, we lost lots of money, and we had a lot of actions. For these bonds as well. For bonds, the same thing applies, the way we issue now the bonds are to institutional investors and through institutional financial institutions, the [Society] of the Market.
If somebody wishes to purchase these, there are minimum amounts and via the financial advisor. This is not part of our plans to go back to the issuance of bonds to private investors because this is very, very complicated, even to explain the risk to the investor and to manage this client in the future. Our job finishes at issuing the bonds to the market. I would like to add to this that, as you know, EUR 7 billion for the ECB, for the European Central Bank, we do not need to take out more money or pay more dividends on paper. We should not need.
What did Ms. Livadiotou say? This is refunding things which are terminated. This is not something new. I would like to ask Ms. Santis to tell us the results from the voting. I have to close the call.