Cooperative banking

On July 31, Pancreta Bank absorbed the Greek assets of global banking colossus HSBC, taking in a highly complementary business and, in effect, creating a new bank, far from its 1993 origins as a cooperative bank named Credit Development Cooperative of Heraklion.

In an interview with Kathimerini, CEO Antonis Vartholomeos explains that upcoming mergers will further expand the bank.

Raiffeisen Bank proceeded to implement the ANPC (National Authority for Consumer Protection) order according to which the management fee could not be included in the interest margin for the restructuring of the loans, and after the restoration of the calculations, the bank will return to the clients any amounts collected in excess, the bank's representatives told AGERPRES.

A few days ago, however, another purchase was announced, so when the merger of Raiffeisen and Credit Agricole Bank is completed, there will be one bank less.
Considering the announcements, there will be more such transactions in the coming months, Novosti writes.

A banking era came to an end with the ironing out of the last details of a deal under which Hellenic Bank, Cyprus's third largest lender, will acquire the operations of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB), banking sources said on Thursday.

The Government issued a state guarantee of up to BGN 50 million under the Student and PhD Students Loan Act for 2018 for new loans granted during the budget year. Financial support consists of guaranteeing principal and interest on credit obligations.

On June 6 and June 7, the Bulgarian Development Bank is going to host the General Assembly of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB) in Sofia, reported BNR.

The executive directors of some of the most influential banks working in private-public investments are going to discuss at the forum the opportunities and results of the investment plan for Europe (the Juncker Plan).

BEIJING - A loan agreement with China's Exim Bank on funding a project to rebuild and upgrade a section of the Belgrade-Budapest rail line was signed in Beijing on Tuesday at a ceremony also attended by Serbian and Chinese PMs Aleksandar Vucic and Li Keqiang.

Interim Regional Minister Spas Popnikolov will discuss the problems of the National Building Sanitation Programme with representatives of the Association of Municipalities and the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB).

Belgium-based KBC group has finalized the purchase of the United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) and leasing company Interlease, according to its own statement.

The deal, with a price tag of EUR 610 M, gives KBC control over 99.9% of the bank's shares and 100% of Interlease.

KBC is the owner of CIBank and insurance company DZI in Bulgaria.

Pancretan Cooperative Bank announced on Tuesday that former Piraeus Bank president and founder Michalis Sallas is entering the share capital of the Iraklio-based lender with the purchase of a 15 percent stake.