1st LD Writethru: Cypriot central banker refuses to step down

The governor of Cyprus's Central Bank Chrystalla Georghadji on Sunday turned down calls by the government and parliamentary parties to step down after being accused of a conflict of interest.

"I have no intention of resigning and I will continue to perform my duties under the constitution. The issue is considered by me to be over," Georghadji said after a dramatic night meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

But an official said the government does not consider the issue to be over.

The official said that after Georghadji's departure the Anastasiades presided over a meeting of close associates, including the minister of finance and his spokesman.

Anastasiades had summoned Georghadji at the presidential palace at the end of daylong consultations with party leaders and Central Bank board members to discuss a crisis over an alleged conflict of interest.

Georghadji is alleged to have violated a conflict of interest clause in the contract of her appointment by not revealing that she was not legally separated from her estranged husband.

Her husband is acting as a lawyer for Greek banker and businessman Andreas Vgenopoulos in a legal case with Cypriot authorities over the collapse of a bank in the 2013 bailout of Cyprus and the resolution of its banking system.

Cyprus was forced by its international lenders to wind down Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki. Vgenopoulos, a former Laiki CEO, is accused by Cypriot authorities of having caused the collapse of the Bank.

The crisis over Georghadji climaxed when an executive member of the Central Bank quit his post, accusing her on Friday of ordering a bank to provide her with a list of lawmakers with loans in arrears. He also alleged that he had told the board members that the state's assistant Attorney General had been bribed.

After conferring with Anastasiades, all parliamentary party leaders demanded that Georghadji step down. Endit