BoC to elect new board on Thursday

By George Psyllides

BANK of Cyprus (BoC) shareholders will vote on Thursday morning for a new board of directors, following a €1.0bn capital increase in the summer.

Out of the current board members, up for election will be the bank’s CEO John Patrick Hourican, deputy chairman of the board Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy, Ioannis Zografakis and Marios Kalohoritis.

Candidates nominated by the company’s stockholders are Josef Ackermann, Arne Berggren, Maksim Goldman, Christodoulos Patsalides, Mihalis Spanos and the bank’s major stockholder Wilbur Ross.

Zaharias Paleksas will also be a candidate for the board. His name was put forward by the association of former Laiki bank depositors (SYKALA).

The bank’s new board of directors will number more than seven people but no more than 13, in agreement with recent internal regulation changes.

Ross and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development had taken part in the recent €1.0bn capital increase that saw new shareholders control some 47 per cent of its stock.

The lender is trying to get back on its feet following the island’s messy bailout in March 2013.

The terms included closure of Laiki Bank, the island’s second biggest, and seizure of deposits over €100,000 to recapitalise BoC.

Moody’s ratings agency upgraded Bank of Cyprus’ long-term deposit ratings on Monday to Caa3 from Ca with stable outlook, warning however that the lender still faced immense challenges.

Moody’s said the upgrade primarily reflects the improvement in the bank’s capital buffers, which enhance its capacity to absorb credit related losses.

Following the capital increase in August, BoC’s fully loaded Common Equity Tier 1 ratio increased to 15.1 per cent from 11.3 per cent in June.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.