Financial services

Friday witnessed the first pension reductions mandated by the third memorandum, which was negotiated and sent for ratification to Parliament this month by the outgoing SYRIZA government.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and the State Agency for National Security (DANS) are to cooperate on countering and preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism.

BNB and DANS are also to collaborate on preventing and uncovering crimes threatening the economic and financial security of Bulgaria.

Greece is about to ratify the 3rd bailout package fro Greece that contains a series of tough measures scheduled to come for voting in the Plenary of Greek Parliament.

Leaders of the union of pensioners' associations in Bosnia's Federation entity will meet next week to decide the date for protests against worsening living standards, the vice-president of the union, Mehmedalija Rapa, said.

Rapa said that up to 35,000 pensioners are expected to join the protests, expected sometime in the latter half of September.

Greek Labor Minister George Katrougalos met with a delegation of the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE)-affiliated trade union.

The Quartet of Greece’s creditors from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Stability Mechanism (ESM) are pushing for a level retirement age at 67 years by January 1, 2022, regardless of extenuating circumstances.

HSBC Holdings Plc agreed to sell its Brazilian unit to Banco Bradesco SA for $5.2 billion, retreating from the second-largest emerging market economy after years of disappointing performance.

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").

Central Bank Governor Erdem Ba?ç? said Turkey has no fear of a planned interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the bank is ready for normalization. 

A planned salaries and pensions hike will not be symbolic, but will also not jeopardize the path of reforms, says Minister of Finance Dusan Vujovic.

Vujovic told B92 on Thursday that Serbia is now, thanks to savings, in a position to "bring back" salaries and pensions, and not only to the previous level, "but to a much higher level in the coming years."