FIVE board members of the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) have expressed their intention to step down, the bank said yesterday.
The five are: Vasilis Rologis, Costas Severis, Anna Diogenous, Giorgos Georgiades and Christos Mouskis.
Mouskis submitted his resignation on Tuesday, which will be put before a board meeting next Thursday, the BoC said in an announcement.
All five intend to leave in the coming months but before the next annual general meeting, as part of “their endeavour to contribute to the renewal and restructuring of the board and in response to a recommendation from the central bank of Cyprus,” the BoC said.
The central bank has asked the BoC – the island’s biggest lender – to ensure that no board member serves for more than nine years, as part of efforts to improve its corporate affairs and comply with regulations stating that anyone staying on for more than nine years needs to justify it.
All departing directors have served on the BoC board for longer than nine years, the BoC said. The announcement was issued after information about the forthcoming departures leaked to the press.
As part of Cyprus’ memorandum of understanding agreement with its international lenders, authorities need to pass legislation to strengthen checks on the board members of commercial banks. This includes banning lending to independent board members and their connected parties and removing any board members with existing debts to the banks.