Wilbur Ross says Bank of Ireland "on the right track"

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross, who has decided to sell his 5 percent stake in Bank of Ireland (Berlin: BIR.BE - news) (BoI) to reduce the concentration of his holdings in the banking sector, told Reuters he believes the bank is "on the right track".

This is "definitely not a negative comment on BoI or Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) . Both are clearly on the right track," Ross said in an emailed message after Deutsche Bank (Xetra: DBK.DE - news) announced it was to sell Ross's stake.

"Some of our other holdings have trading restrictions so this was the logical choice," he said. Fellow shareholder Fairfax Financial (Toronto: FFH.TO - news) "was aware of the trade but did not participate in it," he said.

He said an EU rule that prohibits bank board members from serving on more than three other boards was also a factor. (Reporting by Laura Noonan; Writing by Conor Humphries, editing by David Evans)