SSM email halts Piraeus's CEO selection

Wednesday's Piraeus Bank board meeting, during which a new chief executive officer was supposed to be elected for the lender, was unexpectedly suspended as an email from the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) arrived asking for the process to be stopped so that the two short-listed candidates could be examined further.

Piraeus Group officials spoke of a coup by the European supervisory authority, warning that the intervention may generate more problems not only for the lender but also the entire Greek credit system.

Sources said that one of the two candidates has withdrawn his candidacy in view of the SSM intervention.

After consultation with the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF), it was decided that the board meeting would resume on Friday, with Piraeus issuing a statement saying that "the Governing Board's consultations continue in...