Financial markets

The beleaguered Turkish Lira has become the most fragile currency after the Fed signaled that the lower liquidity environment is coming earlier than expected

Greece's fourth-largest lender, Alpha Bank on Monday announced that it is launching a voluntary dismissal program as part of cost-cutting efforts, the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency said.

Employees at the bank have until September 30 to apply for the program or face possible sacking.

Workers on short-term contracts are not eligible for the program.

The investments in the Romanian real estate market in the first half of 2014 amounted to 432 million euros, the highest figure since 2008, according to an estimation mentioned in a Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) report including the office, industrial, retail and hotel spaces.

Authorities have a concrete direction in their investigation into the identity of the people targeting certain Bulgarian banks, officials announced.

The repatriation of capital that has been moved from local banks to other lenders abroad since the start of the Greek crisis is an ambitious goal that would have multiple benefits for the country.

First and foremost, it would provide much-needed relief for the banking system, which in turn would allow banks to reopen the liquidity tap and inject lifesaving cash into the market.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

The international investment community’s interest in National Bank’s share capital increase was exceptionally high on Tuesday, resulting in the oversubscription for the shares of 2.5 billion euros in total from the first day of book building, according to sources.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

 Share capital increase to be completed by May 10 for new shares to start trading by end of next month

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

During a roadshow in London, National Bank officials have observed particularly strong investor interest in the lender’s 750-million-euro bond issue and the planned share capital increase of 2.5 billion euros.