Michalis Athanasiou
Michalis Athanasiou is the Executive Director of Global Corporate Banking and Markets and is responsible for Large Corporate Banking, International Operations & International Corporate Banking, Shipping, Project Finance & Loan Syndication and Wealth & Markets.
He has extensive local and international experience, including the disposal of two foreign banking subsidiaries, widespread restructuring and deleverage expertise under distressed conditions. In an effort to strengthen the balance sheet of Bank of Cyprus, he was also a key participant in the team that successfully completed the major milestone of raising €1 bln of equity for the BOC Group.
Michalis has started his career at Cyprus Popular Bank Group (CPB) in September 1995 at the Treasury department, where he rose through the ranks of the department and was promoted to Treasurer of Cyprus Popular Bank Ltd in 2003. During this time as Treasurer, among other things, he had set up the group’s first EMTN program that delivered some of the biggest issues out of Cyprus at the time.
In June 2006 and until the beginning of 2011, he was seconded to Laiki Bank Australia (Ltd), a former subsidiary of the CPB Group, as its Chief Executive Officer. After a successful tenor of almost five years overseeing the growth in balance sheet size and profitability of the subsidiary, he was instrumental in the successful disposal of the subsidiary. He later served as a member of its Board of Directors post the sale for 3 years.
Upon his return to Cyprus he was appointed as Director of International Operations being responsible for the subsidiaries of the Group in Romania, Serbia and Estonia. He was a key participant in the successful disposal of the Estonian subsidiary that was eventually completed in March 2012.
In January 2012 he was promoted to Group Chief Risk Officer. He joined the Bank of Cyprus Group following the resolution measures of March 2013 and was reappointed to the same position in November 2013 until August 2019.
Michalis Athanasiou is a member of a number of Group Committees. He is also a Board member of LCP Holdings & Investments Public Company, BOC subsidiary.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree with Honors in Accounting and Finance from the University of North London and an MSc with Distinction in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the University of Reading, UK.