Not only did Laiki bank and the Bank of Cyprus have branches in London with unrestricted withdrawals, so did Uniastrum bank, conveniently located in Moscow. Yet the finance ministers now have their panties in a twist over the presumed billions in withdrawals that no one could have predicted, in advance of them attempting to loot Cyprus banks. Hmm, let me amend that statement.  I should have said, “withdrawals that no one with an IQ less than that of a rutabaga could have predicted.”
So the crisis began, was all over the Press and the Russian depositors walked into the local bank and withdrew their money from Uniastrum, the Bank of Cyprus, or had it wired in from the other local Cyprus banks and it was then withdrawn.
At the same time Laiki bank and the Bank of Cyprus had operating branches in London. There were no restrictions there either so people could walk into those banks and withdraw their money as well.