Pieris Markou, tax and legal practice leader of Deloitte Cyprus, is taking the reins of the Big Four firm from June next year, after incumbent CEO Christis Christoforou decided to step down and retire from the business.
The change also coincides with Cyprus firm’s greater participation in regional Deloitte management.
Christoforou, 60, has been chief executive of Deloitte since January 2005, having earlier been partner in charge at Chrysanthou & Christoforou Arthur Andersen from 1988 to 2002, that later merged to what is today Deloitte Cyprus.
The company said in an announcement that “after nearly 20 years at the reins of Deloitte Cyprus, Christis Christoforou has decided to retire and asked the firm to name a successor to assume the role of CEO at the beginning of the new fiscal year 2021.”
The announcement added that “following a robust governance consultation process involving all partners, Pieris Markou, current Cyprus Tax & Legal leader was named Deloitte Cyprus Incoming CEO. Markou will take office on June 1, 2021.”
Deloitte Cyprus currently has 32 partners, of whom a mere four are women.
“After so many years at the top position, and a year after having completed the integration of Deloitte Cyprus into Deloitte North South Europe (NSE), in line with our global Deloitte vision to regionalise and globalise, I felt that it would be the right junction for me personally to step down after over 30 years in the firm, steward the firm to my successor, and embark on another phase in my life,” Christoforou said.
Christoforou is credited with growing and positioning Deloitte Cyprus as one of the top professional services firms on the island. From around 30 people when he joined in 1987, the firm’s team has grown to 750 professionals and he currently sits on the Deloitte regional Executive Committee in the Middle East and Cyprus.
Incoming CEO Pieris Markou has been with Deloitte since 1995 and was admitted as partner in 2000. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He also serves as Vice President of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC), and previously assumed different roles as Vice Chairman and Chairman of ICPAC Tax and VAT Committees, and as a member of the ICPAC’s council since 2014. He also participates in expert meetings at the Ministry of Finance, the House of Representatives and with the Tax Commissioner for the formulation of policies on taxation and is currently a member of an advisory committee on tax treaty negotiations.
“I am confident that Pieris Markou will successfully lead the firm with the support of the partner group into a next phase of growth and eminence. I will be working and supporting Pieris until my retirement at the end of 2021, to ensure a smooth and seamless transition”, concluded Christoforou.
The outgoing CEO is a fellow member of the ICAEW, a board member of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the Cyprus Integrity Forum Ltd. He is an ex-President of the ICPAC and Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania for Cyprus.
