The attorney general will not attend the House Finance Committee hearing on state guarantees for Hellenic Bank tomorrow because he had no involvement in drawing up the agreement, Philenews reported on Tuesday.
It cited a letter sent by Costas Clerides to the House saying that the legal counsel for the Republic of Cyprus both as regards Hellenic Bank’s final binding bid to acquire part of the Cyprus Co-operative Bank as well the guarantees to be given by the Republic for potential future losses by Hellenic, had been Freshfieids Brackhaus Delinger. The firm was appointed by the finance ministry following a decision of cabinet.
The attorney general said his office had been informed by the finance ministry on March 12 that in view of the restructuring of the financial sector the ministry would be using legal services from a specialised private firm. The Legal Service was not informed nor asked to approve the firm that was selected, he added.
The guarantees agreement was sent to the Legal Service on June 29 for information and not to be checked, he added. “Under these circumstances and given that the guarantee agreements were never submitted to the Legal Service to be studied and checked, the Legal Service is unable to attend the discussion either with the attorney general or his representative.”
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