David & Pierides resign from BOC board

Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd announced that George David resigned from his position as member of the Board of Directors, effective July 28. The resignations follows a similar move by Demetris Pierides who earlier resigned due to overdue balances owed to the bank.

Pierides is a distinguished art collector with a string of cultural foundations and museums baring the family name. He is reported to owe the Bank about CYP 1.3 mln, which are not recoverable. Pierides, a founder of the Pierides Foundation in 1995, is reported to have taken out two separate loans with the bank. A sum of £950,000 was personally given to him, with the rest loaned to his cultural foundation. Bank of Cyprus said it had taken over the art collection of Pierides as collateral against the loan, but the Board has come under criticism from the Central Bank for the way Board members have taken loans from the banks where they serve and for excessive transactions pertaining to their businesses.