Few analysts doubt that the acquisition of a Turkish bank by National Bank of Greece (NBG), the country’s biggest financial group, will herald the beginning of a new era for Greek banking. In a two-horse contest, NBG trumped Citigroup with a bid of €2.3bn for 47% of Finansbank, a mid-sized private bank, and became the first Greek bank to enter the Turkish market.
Although Greek banks already have a firm foothold in the Balkans, Turkey was considered off-limits until recently because of the perceived political risk. But with trade booming between the two formerly hostile neighbours and Turkey due to start EU accession negotiations this October, several Greek banks had been examining prospective targets.
