Attica-Pancreta deal ‘optimal’
The agreement between bank bailout fund HFSF and Thrivest Holdings for the merger of Attica Bank with Pancreta is the “optimal solution for the Greek state, with a view to both ensuring financial stability and the benefit of the taxpayer,” central banker Yannis Stournaras told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
The Bank of Greece governor attributed claims that the state is once again giving away money to bankers and private individuals to “a lack of understanding of the markets, the competition rules of the European Commission and above all the costs to protect clients and financial stability in the country.”
Addressing the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, Stournaras underlined that “the streamlining of these two banks is the last mile in the effort to fully consolidate the credit system.” He added that “the cost to the state from the participation of the HFSF and [pension fund] EFKA in the upcoming capital increase is minimal compared to that of any other option.”
As he explained, this cost arises from to the fact that the two banks do not meet the conditions for transferring all the deposits to another lender and, hence, the uninsured deposits of 1.6 million euros would be lost in the first cut since the start of the crisis.
