Banking

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 350 million euros in a covered bond that Piraeus Bank will issue next month as part of efforts to increase lending to small businesses in Greece, its president Werner Hoyer said in Athens on Friday.

Mr. Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department, made the following statement at the FT Investment Management Summit in London today:

As we enter the last months of the year, which was expected to be difficult, the latest developments in domestic and foreign policies increase these complications more. Clearly, it is difficult to ensure stability in the economy at a time when nothing goes in its normal pace.
 

Piraeus Bank said on Monday it will respond to a draft report of a Bank of Greece audit that found regulatory violations during 2014-16 and that a final report by the central bank would follow thereafter.

Banks intend to repurchase a large part of the properties they will auction off, aiming to ensure the efficient operation of the new online system and prevent a dramatic drop in property prices that would have an impact on their financial reports.

The U.S. dollar rose sharply against the Turkish Lira late on Sept. 20 after the Federal Reserve unveiled plans to wind down its crisis-era stimulus and hinted at another interest rate hike before the end of the year.

The U.S. dollar-Turkish Lira index hit 3.52 following the Fed's decision, while it closed the day at 3.47. 
The index rebounded to 3.51 early on Sept. 21. 

The possibility that banks will need for a fresh recapitalization grows with every day the delay in the implementation of online property transactions drags on. This might lead to a deposit haircut, along with generating a major crisis in relations between the government and the country's creditors.

Greek cooperative bank Pancretan said on Monday that a rise in deposits had allowed it to stop borrowing from the central bank's emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) facility.

Citizens will be permitted withdraw a cumulative amount of 1,800 euros per month, as the capital controls will be relaxed starting from Friday, September 1st.. The new limits will correspond to each bank account with new rules also applying to freelance professionals and companies who will be able to open a new bank account by creating a new client code.

Fitch Ratings has said the rapid loan growth at Turkish banks in the first half of the year resulted from the significant impact of a government initiative to stimulate lending, estimating that the loan growth of the sector might hit 20 percent in 2017.