COMMENT: Cyprus: too small to care  Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:28am EDT
LONDON, March 22 (IFR) - Just two months away from the
eurozone's first potential sovereign default, and the credit
market is, well, amazingly calm.  A EUR1.4bn sovereign bond that
Cyprus is due to repay on June 3 is bid at a cash price of 82,
hardly distressed levels in the context of the Greek
restructuring. And even Cyprus' longer dated issues are no less
than 60% of face value.  That suggests there's a fairly good
chance that sovereign bond holders will be paid back -
potentially in full. So what's there to be worried about?  Not a
lot, if you ask bankers, and the broad-based market stability
seems to reflect that.  Peripheral sovereign yields have all
been relatively steady, as has the second most vulnerable sector
- banking.  While the iTraxx Senior and Subordinated indices
have borne the brunt of the sell-off in the wake of the
announcement of the unprecedented tax on Cypriot bank deposits,
the moves in cash have been tame.  That is remar