Small island, big crisis
At the time of writing it is still unclear whether Cyprus's banks will finally re-open. What has taken place on this small island state seems part of a by now familiar pattern of financial speculation, real estate boom and resulting collapse of a banking sector - one that had ballooned to around eight times the size of the economy it was attached to.
But two significant developments are important to note. Firstly, the decision by the Troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and the IMF to insist that bank depositors make a hefty contribution towards the cost of a bailout of the Cypriot economy is unprecedented.