Company appointed to help economy probe

The government has approved hiring business advisors AlixPartners to help authorities probing the island’s economic collapse.

“The cabinet has authorised the Finance Minister to find and allocate the necessary funds,” deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos said but he did not disclose the amount. AlixPartners was selected from among seven firms.

“They will be helpful to investigating authorities and the work of the law service,” Papadopoulos said.

The police inquiry covers the banks’ expansion into Greece, bank corporate governance, the acquisition of Greek bonds, and how now-defunct Laiki Bank came to amass some €9.0 billion in emergency liquidity, a liability since passed on to the Bank of Cyprus.

Cypriot banks lost about €4.5 billion when European Union leaders agreed in late 2011 to a Greek debt write-down, designed to make that country’s debt burden more sustainable.

Source: Cyprus Mail