Bank of Cyprus chief quits over crisis, noises at Popular

Andreas Eliades, the chief executive of the biggest bank in Cyprus has resigned after eight years at the helm, citing a broad lack of consistency in dealing with the banking crisis that saw an exposure to toxic Greek bonds force the island to seek a European bailout.
Eliades, who headed the Bank of Cyprus operations in Greece for 15 years and later oversaw the bank’s expansion to Russia, said there was lack of "joint mobilisation" in dealing with the crisis.
The communist government of Demetris Christofias has demonised the “greedy” banks for their investment in Greek government bonds in 2010, hammering their share values to record lows and turning them to penny stocks. It also embarked on a crusade to blame all the ills on the former Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides, ignoring its own incompetence in keeping public spending in check.
The Bank of Cyprus board said it will convene on Thursday to discuss various issues, including the issue of succession. Deputy CEO Yiannis Kypri is expected to step in, while recent retirements have also paved the way for a wider management change.
The island’s three main banks – Bank of Cyprus, Popular Bank and Hellenic – have been hurt by accumulated losses of about 3 bln euros from their holdings of Greek sovereign bonds, while their exposure to the Greek retail market is estimated at about 25 bln euros.
Meanwhile, the Christofias administration and the communist Akel party is now intent on getting rid of Michael Sarris as caretaker chairman of the troubled Popular Bank (Laiki) that was nationalised when the state pumped 1.79 bln euros and took an 84% stake, removing board members and installing others.
However, cabinet members have been trying to offload the Popular stake to Chinese or Russian investors in order to get a refund on their bailout and inject more money to support the public sector, where austerity measures have been too little and and too late.
As a result, a delegation of the ‘troika’ from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund were in Cyprus last week to review the situation and see if the country will be able implement the necessary cutbacks and reforms to justify a bailout of at least 10 bln euros.