"I think the bank is coming very nicely out of the woods and it is out of the danger zone,” he said in an interview with the semi state Cyprus News Agency.

"We still have to do a lot more things to make sure that we could fix the bank and fix Cyprus and actually make it a sustainably valuable bank," he added.

Hourican was appointed as BoC CEO after the bank entered a resolution process while 47.5% of its deposits over €100,000 have been seized to recapitalise the bank, as part of a €10 billion bailout Cyprus received from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF.

Prior to joining the Bank of Cyprus in 2013, Hourican was appointed Chief Executive, Markets & International Banking of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in January 2012 having served as Chief Executive of its predecessor, Global Banking & Markets, since October 2008.

Hourican held a variety of positions across the RBS Group, including Chief Financial Officer of ABN AMRO Group, Head of Leveraged Finance and Chief Operating Officer of Global Banking & Markets.

He has a degree in Economics and Sociology from the National University of Ireland and received a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from Dublin City University before starting his career at Price Waterhouse, where he worked in Dublin, London and Hong Kong.

He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Source: Famagusta Gazette