Wilbur Ross to cut ties with lender

Wilbur Ross, US president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, intends to sever his ties to Bank of Cyprus, but the private equity firm that bears his name isn’t planning to sell its stake in the lender, according to sources. He will also probably sell his rights to as much as half of the incentive fees available to partners on investments.

Mr Ross, 79, is best known here as the buyer of Bank of Ireland shares at 10 cent a share during the crisis and who made many millions when he sold the stake over two years ago.

Mr Ross, who’s worth about €2.78bn made big bets on other troubled European banks after the financial crisis and has reaped handsome profits in the UK too.