SSM grants Piraeus extension for its bond issue

Piraeus Bank has formally secured an extension from the European Central Bank for the coverage of its 500-million-euro corporate bond that will count toward its Tier II capital.

Kathimerini understands that the ECB's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) has given Greece's leading bank in assets a nine-month extension from the original deadline of December 31.

The approval of Piraeus's request to that effect came after a Piraeus management decision not to pay the contingent convertibles (CoCos) coupon for 2018, saving some 160 million euros. This decision allows the Greek lender to strengthen its capital by 36 basis points, easing capital pressure for this year.

As the bank's administration has announced, the decision to suspend the payment of the coupon stems from the options granted from the agreement with the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund and will not be...