Christou resigns from CSE probe over conflict of interest claims

FORMER auditor general Spyros Christou yesterday resigned from the committee appointed by the government to investigate allegations about suspect dealings on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

The move came after Finance Minister Takis Klerides found out that Christou, a qualified stockbroker, had offered his services to the CSE to study and approve company portfolios prior to his appointment on the committee.

Christou resigned in order to avoid any possible misunderstandings over conflict of interest and future questioning of the validity of the committee’s findings. The issue will be discussed by the Council of Ministers at its next meeting.

The three-member committee has already come under the spotlight for failing to publish any results from its findings so far.

It was the second slap in the face for the government’s CSE policy yesterday, coming alongside a refusal from the board of the Social Insurance Fund to invest public money on the flagging market.

The board announced instead that it was considering alternative investment prospects for social insurance funds.

The government’s proposal to sink social insurance money into the stock market was fiercely criticised by opposition parties earlier this year.

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