BANKS

The country's lenders are currently limited to eight billion euros of investments in Greek government bonds. The cap was introduced after the huge losses incurred by banks from a debt write off deal imposed on private sector bondholders in 2012 by the Greek government. 

Higher property prices mean that the value of real estate tied to loans improves and this strengthens the asset side of the balance sheet for lenders. Commercial property prices have risen by 14 percent since lows seen in 2017, while apartment prices are up by 11 percent. Bank officials estimate that for every 1 percentage point rise in property prices, banks benefit by nearly 400 million euros.

The improved Hercules proposal introduces a new legal form of state guarantees that allows the best part of the securitized asset to be turned into bonds equivalent to Greek government paper. The Hercules plan will be more useful to banks than initially thought, allowing them to reduce non-performing loans (NPLs) by more than 30 billion euros.

The extension gives debtors an additional four months on top of the previous government’s December 31 deadline.

The entry of two giant Chinese banks in Greece is only a recent development and their presence remains discrete. But they have big plans for Greece as the country is part of the new Silk Road, placing the Mediterranean country within the strategic plans prepared by the Asian lenders. As of August 2018, Athens agreed with Beijing to participate in the new Belt and Road initiative even though Cosco had acquired the port of Piraeus much earlier.

National Bank Group on Thursday said its net profit from continuing operations rose to 423 million euros in the January-September period from 61 million in the same period last year. Operating profit grew to 465 million euros in the January-September period, from 65 million last year, driven by strong core income, solid trading & other income aided by one-off gains, cost cutting and low CoR despite rigorous cleanup of the NPE book

Alpha Bank on Tuesday unveiled one the biggest securitization plans of non-performing exposures (NPEs) in the European market as part of a strategic plan towards a faster restructuring of its balance sheet.

The Bank of Greece will activate a plan to resolve the 60 pct of nonperforming loans (NPLs) not covered by the "Hercules" plan proposed by the government, bank governor Yannis Stournaras revealed while speaking at the Thessaloniki Summit 2019 on Friday evening.

Completion of the Hercules plan, a proposal being put together by the Greek government to help banks offload nonperforming loans, has been pushed back to 2020, in a development that is also delaying other initiatives by banks to improve their balance sheets. Due to uncertainty stemming from the Hercules proposal, Greek lenders are unable to complete steps they have already announced and prepared 12 months ago, such as the Eurobank - Pimco deal.

In a very well-coordinated operation tens of officials from the Competition Committee raided the head offices of Greece's four systemic banks - Eurobank, Alpha Bank, National Bank and Piraeus Bank - and the Hellenic Bank Association. The Competition Committee did not inform the banks about the reason behind the operation.