National Bank

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

Piraeus Group head Michalis Sallas is poised to become the new president of the Hellenic Bank Association as soon as the administrative changes at the National Bank of Greece are completed.

Greece's top administrative court has blocked the sale of a luxury seaside resort outside Athens to an Arab-Turkish fund, court officials said on Thursday, dealing a further blow to the country's battered privatisation plan.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) benchmark spent the entire day in the green on Wednesday as traders appear convinced a deal will be reached between Athens and its eurozone peers and refuse to give in to uncertainty, though early gains were contained over the course of trading.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

The European Central Bank (ECB) has issued a terse warning to Greek banks, and particularly to the government in Athens, via its Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), over plans to overhaul lenders? management. In a letter to Greek banks, the SSM stressed that any changes to their management can be implemented only after receiving the SSM?s approval.

The intention of investors to cash in on last week?s gains and concerns over a possible rift between Athens and its eurozone peers resulted in a losing start to the week for Greek stocks, with banks sustaining considerable losses.

Statements by the German and Dutch finance ministers regarding the prospects of Greece and its partners reaching a deal dashed expectations at the Athens bourse on Wednesday and sent the benchmark down over 4 percent. A government statement on the freezing of the port privatization tenders did not help either.

Following a recent decision by the ratings firm change Greece’s credit rating to under monitoring regime, Moody’s announced today the credit assessment of the five Greek banks.
More specifically, Piraeus Bank, National Bank and Alpha Bank from Caa1 downgraded to Caa2, while Eurobank and Attica Bank from Caa3 downgraded to Caa2.

By John Glover

Bonds of Greece?s banks extended declines, with notes of National Bank of Greece SA falling to a record, after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reiterated his government?s rejection of the country?s bailout program.

In anticipation of yet another crucial Eurogroup meeting ? this time scheduled for Monday in Brussels ? traders mostly held back on Friday, with sellers keeping the upper hand.

Liberal MEP Theodor Stolojan says that the recent speech of Finance Minister Darius Valcov about Romanian holders of Swiss franc loans "was incredibly arrogant" and asserts that the solution to the issue could be individual, if the banks relax the terms for the debtors, or collective - in the opposite situation.

Photo credit: (c) ADRIAN CUBA/ AGERPRES ARCHIVE