Anastasiades gives green light to remove CBC governor

By Constantinos Psillides

President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday he will move to file an application for the dismissal of Central Bank (CBC) governor Chrystalla Georghadji with the Supreme Court.

Speaking at the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists federation (OEV) general assembly, Anastasiades said that he has considered a report prepared by the attorney general’s office and that he is giving the green light to move with the application to dismiss the governor.

“I gave clear instructions. The AG’s office should move for the dismissal of Georghadji. I will respond to the report put together by his office so he can go ahead,” the president said.
While not officially stated, it was reported that the grounds for sacking Georghadji relate to conflict of interest.

Last November, Georghadji found herself in hot water after it was revealed that her daughter worked for her estranged husband’s law firm, which represents former Laiki strongman Vgenopoulos, whom the lender’s former Special Administrator took to court over his alleged role in the bank’s failure in March 2013.

The employment of Georghadji’s daughter at the law firm was seen as a serious conflict of interest for the governor, who also chairs the Resolution Authority – comprising the Central Bank’s board of directors.
The imputation was that Georghadji had access to confidential information on the Vgenopoulos case, which she might then share with the law firm her daughter was working for.

Controversy was compounded when it further emerged that Georghadji amended a conflict-of-interest clause in her employment contract before signing, removing a ban on first-degree relatives from working in any central bank-related areas.

Georghadji denies any wrongdoing.

No central bank chief has ever been removed from office. Georghadji’s immediate predecessor, Panicos Demetriades, who also fell out with Anastasiades, quit in March 2014 after receiving a generous payout.

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