Greek hesitancy to invest in Turkey’s financial sector is set to change, according to senior Greek and Turkish bankers who attended an inaugural joint meeting in Athens in May under the umbrella of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, the global association of financial institutions.

Serbia’s decision to focus on selling banks is drawing Greek institutions into the country, despite continuing political risk. Kerin Hope reports.

The pace of retail lending – boosted by entry to the eurozone and the Athens Olympics – is slowing down. Kerin Hope reports from Athens.

general manager, international activities, National Bank of Greece
As the youngest general manager at National Bank of Greece (NBG) – the country’s biggest banking group – Agis Leopoulos, head of international activities, had to prove he deserved a place on the team.

The decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Greece’s credit rating has damaged the country’s image but will have little impact on the cost of borrowing, according to Athens-based analysts.

Greece’s newly elected conservative government has pledged to boost growth and reduce unemployment. However, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has more pressing issues to contend with first – namely, to ensure the success of this year’s Olympic games. Kerin Hope reports from Athens.

Greek banks have expanded their presence in south east Europe in the expectation of boosting their market share, writes Kerin Hope.

The chairman of Alpha Bank says its outlay of E78m to become the official banking sponsor for the Athens Olympics was money very well spent.

A raft of favourable economic conditions has facilitated a long-overdue reversal of fortunes for Greece’s key financial institutions. Stephen Timewell reports from Athens.

South east Europe is growing fast and the major banks in the region, particularly the Greek banks, are rapidly expanding their capital base as they expand their networks into neighbouring countries. This year’s Top 50 South East European banks listing shows that aggregate Tier 1 capital has risen by 33.6% to $32bn from $24bn in last year’s listing. Some of the major Greek banks significantly increased their capital to support future expansion. National Bank of Greece (NBG), the largest bank in the region, increased its Tier 1 capital by 58.8% to $3.71bn at the end of 2003 thereby markedly raising its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio from 7.4% to 10.3%. Alpha Bank also saw Tier 1 capital rise by a significant 48.9% to $2.64bn. Panayotis Thomopoulos, deputy governor of the Bank of Greece, believes Greek banks have the highest levels of Tier 1 capital in the EU at 10%.