Piraeus may shift strategy over Geniki

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

The Piraeus Group is contemplating the idea of Geniki Bank’s full absorption, which would mean abandoning the plan for its subsidiary to take an autonomous course.

Sources have told Kathimerini that Piraeus officials have reviewed the group’s strategy regarding Geniki’s future and that its absorption is currently the likeliest scenario.

The original plan had been for Geniki to be transformed into a specialized growth and investment banking corporation designed to manage problematic assets and help problematic enterprises to overcome difficulties and return to a sustainable course. That plan had foreseen Geniki proceeding to a share capital increase with the participation of strategic investors.

The plan has been in limbo for months, reflecting the group’s general concern, particularly as to whether a group member would be able to undertake the nonperforming loans of various banks, given also that all systemic banks, including Piraeus, have created internal “bad banks,” to clear out NPLs and restructure troubled firms.