Why have you proposed listing bank shares in London?
We always wanted to be listed on a large, index-driven exchange, while of course maintaining a listing in Cyprus. It is another important step in the journey to normalizing the bank.
What influence do you think fintech will have on the global financial sector?
When you have technology that is cheaper, faster and disruptive to existing paradigms, we need to embrace it or challenge it. I’m not afraid of it; there are technologies out there such as blockchain that are extremely interesting. But we have to be careful that we don’t allow a large portion of the regulated banking industry to disappear into the shadow unregulated space.
Why do you think we are seeing a rise in populism and anti-EU sentiment in Europe?
There is a fatigue in people’s post-crisis psychology across Europe. With the Brexit vote and the Italian referendum, we can see that people want something different for their lives. They don’t think that the European experiment is working quite as well as the people who run it think it is. It is a dangerous moment for Europe, and the euro, and we all need to be careful.
“I am confident that the city of London
will continue to be a powerhouse in global finance regardless of how the separation from Europe occurs.”
John Hourican, CEO, Bank of Cyprus
How well do you think the European financial sector has recovered?
The biggest issue for Europe is that each of the individual crises has been solved with solutions that are not larger than the crisis, and therefore it tends to continue. Greece is a great example of that. The Italian banking crisis is an example. I think we need to see a greater degree of honesty in national balance sheets, and then a greater degree of socialization of the problem.
Why do you think Cyprus has been able to avoid the populism we have seen in other countries?
You have to be deeply honest with your population and you have to explain the need to act swiftly. In Cyprus, authorities took decisive, bold and fast action – and clearly explained to the population what was being done. Policymakers and business also need to be in lockstep. That has not been the case elsewhere.
How is the Cypriot economy performing? And how is the bank contributing?
Cyprus is now the second-fastest growing economy in Europe, and one of the only economies in Europe where the government is in surplus. That confidence translates to the banking sector, where we are seeing significant lending opportunities in the hotel industry and the medical industry.
What progress have you made in reducing non-performing loans?
The business is performing very well and we reduced delinquencies over the course of 2016. There is still a big stock that we will work on in 2017 and 2018
