Laiki Bank (Cyprus Popular Bank Public Co Ltd), further to its announcement dated 14.05.2012, notes that the consultations with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Cyprus in relation to the capital enhancement plan of the Bank, on the basis of the provisions of the legislation for the support the financial system, have been completed.

As per the relevant legislation, the proposal of the Ministry of Finance has been approved today by the Council of Ministers. On the basis of this approval, the Republic of Cyprus will act as an underwriter of the share capital increase of €1.800.000.000 through a Rights Issue.

The terms of the issue will be included in the Prospectus which will be filed with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and is expected to be published next week.

The Board of Directors of the Bank which approved the terms of the share capital increase expresses its satisfaction for today's decision of the Council of Ministers which facilitates the implementation of the re-capitalisation plan of the Bank.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr Michalis Sarris and the Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Christos Stylianides stated the following:

“We express sincere thanks to the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission for the excellent co-operation and the collective effort in order to complete the process under extremely pressing time frames.

We welcome the decision for the underwriting of the issue by the Republic of Cyprus, a development which will contribute positively to our efforts for the re-capitalisation of the Bank through private funds.

We note that the efforts for the implementation of the other pillars of the capital enhancement plan are in full development in order to fully comply with the requirements of the regulatory authorities by the end of June 2012. ”