National Bank of Greece's top management resigns

National Bank of Greece's top management resigns

ATHENS (Reuters) - The chief executive of Greece's largest lender National Bank, Apostolos Tamvakakis, will step down on Thursday and be replaced by deputy CEO Alexandros Tourkolias, a source at the bank told Reuters on Wednesday.

The news came as veteran banker Vassilis Rapanos also quit as chairman of NBG after turning down the post of finance minister earlier this week over health problems.

Rapanos was named finance minister last week but quit on Monday after being hospitalized for dizziness and intense abdominal pains.

"It is for the same reason that I am resigning today," Rapanos wrote in his resignation letter to the board.

The departures were not a surprise, since top management changes at state-controlled companies often follow a change in government in Greece, which held national elections on June 17.

The state exerts indirect influence on management at NBG through state pension funds that own stakes in the lender.

The bank, which is due to hold its annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, also said its Chief Financial Officer Babis Mazarakis had resigned.

Petros Christodoulou, formerly head of Greece's debt agency PDMA, will replace Tourkolias as deputy chief executive, another source at the bank said.

NBG was one of the four top Greek banks recapitalized last month after incurring big losses from a sovereign debt swap to cut the country's debt.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Mike Nesbit)