Financial services

2015 is turning out to be the Olympic Games of … Eurogroup sessions and an unprecedented “gab fest” for European leaders engaged in the “Greek crisis saga”. Apparently, the Grecian “custom” of incessant political chatter and debate — from coffee shop, to kitchen tables to Parliament’s aisles — is infectious.

Greek banks will remain closed until next Monday, with what comes next being anyone’s guess. The daily withdrawal limit remains at 60 euros per account.

A man living in the eastern province of Erzurum has finally proven he is alive after he was mistakenly listed as dead by Turkey's main social security service provider, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 5.

Greece’s central bank on Sunday is expected to request that the European Central Bank raise the ceiling on the Emergency Liquidity Assistance funds for battered Greek banks.

Qatar National Bank and Bahrain?s Arab Bank Corp did not follow up early interest in acquiring HSBC?s Turkish business because they are more interested in National Bank of Greece?s Turkish arm Finansbank, two people familiar with the matter said.

The normal retirement age in Bulgaria will gradually rise to reach 65 years for both men and women in 2037, parliament has decided.

The period of work needed to make a worker eligible for receiving full pension benefits will gradually rise by two months a year to reach 40 years for men and 37 for women in 2027.

Dutch lender ING Group has emerged as the leading bidder for HSBC?s Turkish business, a person familiar with the matter said on July 2.

Three people familiar with the matter said HSBC had narrowed down the field to one suitor, and one of the sources said that it was ING.

While the Greek crisis won’t affect tourists, Greeks abroad – either on vacations or studying – are trapped as Greek banks interpret capital controls in different ways.

The cap controls, a repercussion of a surprise decision by the leftist Tsipras government to call a referendum on creditors’ proposal, also made online shopping with multinationals by holders of Greek cards impossible.

Thousands of Greek people are facing a serious cash crisis after the daily cash withdrawal limit from the country's ATMs was restricted to just 60 euros per day and the use of credit cards was frozen until June 7.

The level of the economic crisis being experienced at the moment is beyond what they imagined when they voted in January, electing the radical left coalition of Syriza.