Eurobank

Lenders are upgrading the role of the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA), with the aim of turning it into an active voice that will intervene dynamically in issues concerning not only the credit sector but also the economy in general.

Traders showed on Monday they are not willing to make any major moves before Thursday's Eurogroup meeting, with stocks showing hardly any movement at the start of the week, and trading volume falling even lower than on previous days.

Eurobank has hired HSBC and Mediobanca to help it find a "strategic partner" for its Romanian subsidiary, a source at the Greek bank said on Monday.

Major Greek banks are looking to reduce their exposure abroad and strengthen their capital base under the terms of the country's latest multi-billion euro financial bailout.

Famar, a pharmaceuticals company in the Marinopoulos Group, will be the first Greek firm that US fund KKR includes in its Pillarstone corporate loan restructuring platform.

Famar's inclusion is aimed at restructuring the company's existing loans of 150 million euros, refinancing it with a fresh injection of 40 million euros, and then finding investors for it.

This time the main index of the Greek stock market lost its grip on the 640-point level on Friday, posting losses of just over half a percentage point at the end of the session on prolonged uncertainty regarding the completion of the second bailout review and the participation of the International Monetary Fund in the Greek program.

It was another mixed day for Greek stocks at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday. While the benchmark edged higher after three days of losses, the majority of stocks, as well as the banks and small-caps indices, still ended lower. Turnover remained below the 30-million-euro level.

The Greek stock market had a mixed session on Tuesday, in line with most of its European peers, with the majority of stocks posting gains while the benchmark and blue chips declined for a third day in a row. Trading volume remained very low, with observers fearing the Athens bourse has attracted the law of gravity that affects markets deprived of any significant news to keep them going.

The decline that began on Friday continued on Monday on the local stock market as uncertainty over the course of Greece's second bailout review and the country's future funding showed no sign of dissipating.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Monday announced it has successfully completed its first transaction in the agribusiness sector in Greece by providing 10 million euros in long-term financing to Loulis Mills, a leading company in the Greek flour milling industry.

Athinon Avenue retained its slow northbound course on Thursday, hitting a new 14-month high, although trading volume remained very low.