John Hourican opts to stay at Bank of Cyprus until 2019

Irish banker’s decision takes him out of running for job as Bank of Ireland CEO

Irish man John Hourican has had his contract as group chief executive of Bank of Cyprus extended until December 31st, 2018. Photograph: Misha Friedman/Bloomberg
Irish man John Hourican has had his contract as group chief executive of Bank of Cyprus extended until December 31st, 2018. Photograph: Misha Friedman/Bloomberg

Irish man John Hourican has had his contract as group chief executive of Bank of Cyprus extended until December 31st, 2018. He has been in the role since 2013 and his term was due to expire in February 2018.

In a statement published on Tuesday, the board of the bank thanked Mr Hourican for his “valuable contribution to the group over the past three years” and wished him “every success” in his new term with the company.

Mr Hourican resigned from the Cypriot bank in 2015 to return to Ireland where his family was based, but he later reversed this decision. His time with the Cypriot bank has involved rebuilding the institution following a national debt crisis on the island.

He previously spent 16 years in various roles with Royal Bank of Scotland, latterly as head of global banking and markets division, having also worked for accounting and consulting firm PwC.

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Mr Hourican's decision to extend his stay in Cyprus takes him out of the running to possibly succeed Richie Boucher as chief executive of Bank of Ireland.

Mr Boucher plans to retire from the bank later this year, with the board last week announcing that it would conduct a process to identify a suitable successor.

Mr Hourican had also previously been linked with other senior roles in the domestic Irish banks.

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times