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Andreas Vgenopoulos has resigned from Marfin Popular Bank Public Co Ltd. Until today, he was the elected president and board member of the bank. His place will be taken by another board member and former CEO of the financial institution, Constantinos Milonas, proposed by Vgenopoulos himself.

Reading between the lines of Vgenopoulos’ lengthy speech the banker disagrees with the decision of the Cypriot government for only main shareholders to bear the burden of the recapitalization of banks due to the loss of liquidity from the 50% haircut on the Greek debt. He insists that the increase in the bank's capital should not burden only preferred share owners but all shareholders.
 
In his official statement, Adreas Vgenopoulos embarked on a profound philosophical reasoning of the human touch, stressing that banks were not solely profit pursuers. He also stressed that their purpose and most important mission was to support economic growth by providing resources to real business and thus avoid recession. "The 50% reduction in the value of Greek bonds and the European directive on capital adequacy of 9% at the end of the first half of 2012 have led to the dilemma of whether banks will remain privately owned and will be fully nationalized," said Vgenopoulos. He stated that there was a clash of interest between the bank management and its shareholders, and therefore he was forced to leave the post of elected president.

"I am firmly convinced that the interests of Cyprus and its people are identical at this stage with the interests of private shareholders of banks as the country's interest is to keep the banks private, but the Cypriot Government and Parliament will make the final decision." Vgenopoulos did not fail to point out that he was the second largest shareholder in Marfin Popular Bank Public Co Ltd, and although he had resigned, he would continue to fight for the interests of the bank and its private owners. Finally, he added that the intentions of the largest shareholder of the financial institution DUBAI FINANCIAL GROUP LLC were the same.