Nouy’s ‘non’ stuns committee probing Co-op failure

By Stelios Orphanides

The chairwoman of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) Daniele Nouy will not testify at the committee probing the failure of the state-owned Cyprus Cooperative Bank and is instead ready to reply in writing to a questionnaire, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported on Friday.

The committee, appointed by Attorney-general Costas Clerides in July, said that the ECB did not decide to lift the immunity Nouy enjoys and expressed its regrets over the decision, according to the CNA.

“As chairwoman of the supervisory board, I have immunity from giving testimony to national authorities, including investigative committees, with respect to actions taken as part of my duties, as provided by the protocol on privileges and immunity of the European Union,” Nouy said in a letter to the committee.

The decision to decline the request filed by the committee investigating the demise of the state-owned bank which was supervised jointly by the Central Bank of Cyprus and the SSM in the past four years, was taken by the ECB’s Executive Board.

According to the CNA, the committee gave the impression on Thursday that Nouy would be prepared to testify via teleconference, after it was conveyed to it that Central Bank of Cyprus and a spokesperson of Nouy asked about the topics on which she would have to testify.

The CNA added that Cypriot legislation provides that testimonies to investigative committees are given under oath no matter whether a testimony is given verbally or in writing and that the committee will find a solution to this problem on the basis of EU legislation and case law.

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.