Two former bankers charged with breach of faith

The Athens Court of First Instance on Thursday brought criminal charges of breach of faith against the former governor of the Bank of Greece, Giorgos Provopoulos, and the former chairman of Piraeus Bank, Michalis Sallas, after a probe allegedly found them responsible for losses suffered by social insurance funds ahead of the country's economic crisis.

The probe, which was overseen by financial prosecutor Panagiotis Athanassiou, found that Provopoulos did not protect the funds while in the role of central bank governor, and that despite knowing the adverse fiscal situation, allowed the restructuring of Piraeus Bank's portfolio despite the negative impact of this move on insurance funds.