Greek Banker Sorotos Named Bank of Cyprus CEO

Greek banker Christos Sorotos was appointed on Tuesday as interim CEO of the island's largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, to guide it through tough restructuring under Cyprus' bailout terms, the central bank said.

Britain-based Sorotos, 61, is an expert in corporate restructuring who has worked in Greece, the United States, Bulgaria and Romania, said a statement said.

It is hoped his experience in restructuring banks in trouble will help steer the Bank of Cyprus - currently under central bank control -- through the island's worst economic meltdown.

"He previously served as deputy governor of the National Bank of Greece and was responsible for the management of non-performing loans and the creation of a 'bad bank' contributing to the restructuring of the bank and its exit from the crisis," said the central bank.

Sorotos also served as country corporate officer at Citibank and general manager at Eurobank, both in Greece.

His appointment comes into effect from Wednesday.

To secure a 10-billion-euro EU-IMF rescue package Cyprus has had to severely cut back its bloated banking sector, and businesses struggle to survive without sufficient working capital as the eurozone's first capital controls remain in place.

Banks have been operating under stringent capital controls since they reopened on March 28, after a near two-week lockdown prompted by fears of a run on deposits.

A bail-in from depositors was a key element of a deal Nicosia struck with its EU partners and the International Monetary Fund last month to help fund a 23 billion euro rescue package.

Bank of Cyprus depositors have seen a 37.5 percent loss on deposits over 100,000 - exchanged for shares -- with another 22.5 percent frozen until the final cost of restructuring is determined.

This process is expected to be complete by the end of July in deciding whether all or part of the 22.5 percent will also be converted into shares.

Savers at the now defunct Laiki Bank will have to wait years to see any of their cash over 100,000 euros.

Laiki was split into a "good" and "bad" bank, the healthy part - insured deposits and serviceable loans - were absorbed by the Bank of Cyprus.