Hellenic Bank: New CEO and new CFO join board

The Board of Hellenic Bank on Wednesday at its Annual General Meeting elected two new members, and re-elected all of its other 11 members.

The two new members are both newly appointed: CEO Oliver Gatzke and CFO  CFO, Antonis Rouvas.

A German citizen and a former Big Four advisory partner and senior executive at Hamburg Commercial Bank, Gatzke was recruited in March. Gatzke has years of experience in both financial restructuring and fintech as CEO.

Gatzke is well-known in European banking circles for his work in privatising and restructuring Hamburg Commercial Bank. Gatzke successfully initiated the privatisation of the bank and played a leading role in its financial restructuring. The turnaround he led was successful.

Gatzke replaces Ioannis Matsis who held the post from April 2017 until he left the bank in September 2020. His appointment is awaiting approval by the European Central Bank and by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

Antonis Rouvas is returning to a post that he held from 2008 to 2017. Rouvas has previous experience in international financial institutions in Cyprus and abroad, including stints at Credit Suisse in Singapore, Cyprus and London, as well as KPMG Cyprus, where he served as partner and board member.

Rouvas replaces Lars Kramer, who joins Dutch bank ABN Amro as CFO. His appointment is still awaiting confirmation by the European Central Bank and by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

Returning Board Members  include: Evripides A. Polykarpou, Kristofer Richard Kraus, Andreas Persianis, Kyriacos Riris, Demetrios Efstathiou, Stephen John Albutt, Marianna Pantelidou Neophytou, Marios Maratheftis, Marco Comastri, John Gregory Iossifidis and Miranda Xafa.

It is noted that the election of Andreas Persianis, Kyriacos Riris and Miranda Xafa to the Board of Directors is subject to approval by the European Central Bank  and the Central Bank of Cyprus. This is expected to take place over the summer