Capital requirement

The Greek banking sector is better placed than in the past to withstand potential shocks and perform its intermediation function, despite a slight deterioration in the asset quality of credit institutions, according to the Financial Stability Review released by the Bank of Greece on Tuesday.

The board chairman of the National Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Bank Association, Gkikas Hardouvelis, stated on Monday the capital adequacy ratios of Greek banks are strong and very close to the corresponding European average, while the liquidity ratios far exceed the minimum requirements and the European average.

The time is approaching for the share capital increase of Attica Bank, whose management this week expects DBRS Morningstar's evaluation of its bad-loan portfolio so that it can be included in the "Hercules 3″ bonds program of the state.

Greek banks comfortably passed the capital adequacy stress tests conducted by the European Banking Authority (EBA), the latter announced on Friday.

Notably, in the adverse scenario for 2025, National Bank shows a CET1 of 14.5%, Eurobank 12.2%, Piraeus Bank 9.1% and Alpha Bank 8.9%.

National Bank's goal is to become a "platform of cooperations" exploiting international trends and technologies toward improving customer experience and expanding its clientele even further, Pavlos Mylonas, the bank's CEO, said on Friday.

Hellenic Bank, Cyprus' second-largest lender, has reported a profit of 69.7 million euros for the first quarter of 2023, signaling a strong start to the year.

The position of Greek banks in the face of the international banking crisis remains strong, Goldman Sachs points out, answering questions from its clients about the sector's capital, liquidity and investment portfolio.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the serious problems facing Credit Suisse will not have wider consequences for the European banking system, according to Greek bankers.

The road banks still have to travel to approach normalcy is strewn with pitfalls, despite the high profitability recorded in 2022. This is confirmed by the shift in their intention to distribute dividends by one year.

There are three main reasons for that decision, the first being banks' need to protect their profitability through stable and recurring profits.

Greek banks will try to raise funds amounting to about 3 billion euros on the market this year, in a bid to strengthen their capital adequacy and shield their liquidity so that they will be able to support the economy.