Cyprus banks reopen

People gather in front of Laiki (Popula) Bank as the country’s banks reopen following 12 days of closure in Nicosia. (Milos Bicanski / Getty Images)

March 28, 2013 8:29 AM PT

Banks opened at noon Thursday, operating for six hours under strict controls ordered by the country’s central bank to contain fears of a flight of capital that could reach $30 billion.

Cypriot banks to open after 12-day closure

Customers gather in front of Laiki (Popula) Bank as the country’s banks reopen following 12 days of closure. (Milos Bicanski / Getty Images)

Banks in Cyprus reopened to customers for the first time in nearly two weeks Thursday, albeit with strict restrictions on transactions, after being closed to prevent people withdrawing all their savings during the country’s acute financial crisis. (Petros Karadjias / Associated Press)

A man looks at his savings book as people wait for a branch of the Laiki Bank in Nicosia. (Katia Christodoulou / EPA)

A private security services guard, right, stands in front of the banks main door as people wait outside a branch of Laiki Bank in Nicosia. (Petros Karadjias / Associated Press)

A man is assisted by a security guard as he exits a branch of the Bank of Cyprus in Nicosia. (Petros Giannakouris / Associated Press)