1st LD Writethru: Bank of Cyprus CEO resigns for "personal reasons"

Bank of Cyprus CEO John Hourican, an Irish banker who was called in to help the lender rise up from its ruins in 2013 resigned for "personal reasons" on Tuesday, the bank said in a statement.

It said that Hourican will work for about four more months until the end of his notice.

Hourican was appointed Bank of Cyprus CEO shortly after it was directed by Cyprus's international lenders to impair uninsured deposits over 100,000 euros (107,000 U.S. dollars) by 47.5 percent to recapitalize.

The world's first bail-in as it has since become known, was part of a resolution of the Cypriot banking system, and involved the winding down of Laiki Bank, the eastern Mediterranean island's second largest lender, and its folding into Bank of Cyprus.

Cyprus itself received a 10-billion-euro bailout by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund after a prolonged crisis.

Hourican told his staff in a statement that he planned to relocate to Ireland but added that he had no other job yet.

Bank sources said that he would like to spend more time with his family.

"I have been very proud to be part of the Bank of Cyprus family during this period and to have led this chapter in the Bank's rehabilitation," Hourican's statement reads.

Bank of Cyprus was recapitalized last year, drawing funds from American billionaire Wilbur Ross and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. It passed stress tests conducted EU-wise by the European Central Bank in late-2014.( 1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollars) Endit