Raids on firm of BoG chief's wife raise questions

Investigators on Thursday carried out surprise raids on the company offices of Stavroula Nikolopoulou, the spouse of Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras, as well as the couple's home, as part of a probe into the alleged mismanagement of state funding for the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO).

The timing of the raids raised questions, coming just hours before the BoG issued its decision to reject the proposed candidates for the governing council of Attica Bank, a state-backed lender.

The central bank, whose decision was widely anticipated, explained that Panagiotis Roumeliotis, a former Greek envoy to the International Monetary Fund proposed to head Attica Bank's managing board, had no executive experience at a bank. PASOK veteran Gerasimos Sapoutzoglou was among the other nominees rejected.

The bank was banned from issuing loans...