National Bank of Greece’s acquisition of a 46% controlling minority stake in Finansbank, Turkey’s eighth largest bank, is not just another development in European cross-border bank consolidation. It is much, much more.
In a European environment of increasing nationalism and protectionism in countries such as France and Poland to name a few, it is important to note that banks from two recently hostile neighbours have been able to see beyond their former enmities and grasp the real meaning of south-east Europe.
