Eurobank

Four major Greek banks must find up to 14.4 billion euros ($15.8 billion) to survive potential economic shocks, the European Central Bank said on Oct. 31, releasing the results of an in-depth financial health check.

The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank announced the results of the Greek bank stress tests. The capital needs of the country’s four main banks were calculated to be at 14.4 bln euros:

– Eurobank 2.12 bln euros

– Alpha Bank 2.74 bln euros

– National Bank of Greece 4.6 bln euros

– Bank of Piraeus 4.93 bln euros

The Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis warned that the salvage of Greek banks could be delayed. In an interview to financial site ‘Bloomberg’ Dombrovskis underlined the urgency of implementing the rescue plan for Greece and its banking system, stressing that the review of the 4 major Greek banks was linked to the country’s bailout plan.

Moody’s Investors Service on Monday confirmed the Caa2 ratings five Greek mortgage-covered bond programs
Moody’s said the issues were formerly on review for downgrade.

Moody’s ratings agency downgraded Greece’s 4 systemic banks to C on the unsecured debt, as it estimates Greek bank bondholders will face cuts in the event that a ‘bail-in’ is opted for the Greek banking system. The downgrade concerns the unsecured debt of alpha Bank, Eurobank, Ergasias, National bank of Greece (NBG) and Piraeus Bank. The agency maintained the banks’ deposit ratings at Caa3.

The Athens Stock Exchange opened with a slight increase at 0.13% in the first few minutes on Tuesday before a 5% drop. The basic share price index later stabilized at 3.83% standing at 642.49 points at 11 a.m. and marking turnover at 16.26 mln euros.

The FTSE/ASE Large Index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 5.43% and the FTSE/ASE Mid Cap index dropped by 2.36%.

Greece-based Piraeus Bank is negotiating with the National Bank of Greece (NBG) group over a potential merger into United Bulgarian Bank, owned by NBG, media reports suggest.

None of the two Greek lenders has yet commented on the reports of the Greek-language news website Euro2Day, which is quoted by the Bulgarian mass circulation daily 24 Chasa ("24 Hours").

Bulgaria's central bank has said its commitment and action taken so far create prerequisites for the timely finalisation of the acquisition of the branch nework of Greece's Alpha Bank in the country by Postbank, a subsidiary of another Greek lender, Eurobank.

Bulgaria's Postbank, a subsidiary of Greece's Eurobank, has announced the acquisition of the Bulgarian branch network of Alpha Bank, another Greek lender.

With the acquisition, "Postbank will strengthen its market position in the Bulgarian banking sector and expand its customer base in both the retail and corporate business banking segments," the bank said in a statement on Friday.

Greece-based Alpha Bank has sold its Bulgarian operations to Eurobank, another (temporarily closed) Greek for an undisclosed sum.
Alpha has 83 branches 744 employees in Bulgaria.
Eurobank’s subsidiary, Postbank Eurobank Bulgaria AD, will assume control. Alpha Bank sold its Ukrainian affiliate to Delta Bank in 2013.