Hedge funds

The conviction of five top executives of jewelry maker Folli Follie for falsifying balance sheets and other financial offenses in an Athens court last week is "a victory for transparency and integrity in the financial markets," the founder of the hedge fund that revealed the fraud told Kathimerini.

Some hedge funds that bet against a series of Greek and Italian companies are nursing losses after the European Union's breakthrough plan for a 750 billion euro (£673 billion) recovery fund sent stock markets surging across southern Europe.

Greece's first real estate investment company (REIC) set up entirely by foreign funds has received an operating license from the country's Capital Market Commission. Called Orilina Properties, the firm is a vehicle of US investment group Brevan Howard for penetrating the local market.

Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP, one of Europe's biggest hedge funds, revealed to Bloomberg on Tuesday that it has set up two investment funds whose exclusive targets are assets in Greece such as real estate, enterprises and securities, and is aiming to collect 500 million euros from private investors.