New Bank of Cyprus CEO 'excited' over appointment

The newly appointed chief executive of Bank of Cyprus John Hourican said he was “very excited” about the new challenge in a country with such a large banking sector, according to the Financial Times.

Speaking to the British paper, the 43 year old Irish banker said: “The opportunity to make a real difference not only to the bank but to the country as a whole is a significantly interesting challenge.”
He added that his appointment was indefinite but envisaged three to five years for the restructuring of the bank.

The Financial Times, which describes Mr Hourican’s appointment as a “surprise comeback”, comments that his experience in helping to restructure Royal Bank of Scotland, which had to be bailed out by the UK government, is believed to be one of the reasons for him being placed at the helm of the Cypriot bank.
According to the Daily Telegraph, John Hourican “beat off competition from former Irish Bank Resolution CEO Mike Aynsley” to land the job.

And the Guardian reminds its readers that the new Bank of Cyprus CEO had quit RBS in the wake of the bank’s fine for rigging Libor, even though he was not implicated in the scandal. “He left with a £700,000 payout but left behind £5m in share bonuses,” adds the paper.