Former Deutsche bank chief Ackermann elected board chairman of Cyprus' biggest bank

Shareholders of bailed-out Cyprus' biggest bank have elected former Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann as the new chairman.

The vote Thursday comes after the Bank of Cyprus passed a European in-depth review of its finances last month. The bank had earlier bolstered its capital base by raising 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion).

U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross, who led a group of investors in pouring tens of millions into the bank, was elected vice chairman. Russian Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy stays on also as vice chairman.

Bank of Cyprus still faces major hurdles — half of all its loans are soured.

Police kept several dozen angry bondholders who lost money in Cyprus' multibillion euro international rescue deal last year from forcing their way into the bank's headquarters.