>Srdjan, if you're out there, could you provide a local's view of the ongoing events?

An overview for lurkers: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-18/europe-s-reckless-raid-on-cyprus-s-savings.html

It's quite spectacular, isn't it? Many possibilities, none of them good:

1. An attempt to soak the rich (especially the Russians) - but to give it a whiff of respectability they decided they had to soak everybody

2. An EU trial balloon. It's easier and less damaging to contain unrest and riots in Cyprus than it would be in Spain, Italy etc.

3. A Lagarde & Co. trial balloon. Basically the same idea but to gauge applicability worldwide, not just in the Eurozone

4. Brinkmanship by the EU and/or IMF - Greece and Spain may be "too big to fail" but maybe Cyprus isn't; how far can ordinary people be pushed by the fear of failure?

5. ??

No doubt both the EU and IMF have plenty of staff with direct experience of the causes and effects of bank runs. It's not as if they don't know what they're doing, and the likely consequences. But, they're going ahead anyways. Why?

- are they testing the resiliency of the worldwide banking system?

- are they trying to put a $ value on one of the "priceless" pillars of the financial system?