Piraeus confirms absorption of Panellinia Bank
Piraeus Bank announced late on Friday that it is absorbing the healthy part of Panellinia, a small cooperative bank that failed to complete its required share capital increase.
Piraeus stated that it won the tender launched by the Bank of Greece and will now absorb a deposit balance of 574 million euros and loans after provisions that amount to 280 million euros. It will also absorb a network of 26 branches with 163 employees, whose jobs Piraeus has guaranteed.
The Panellinia Bank network will as of today operate under the auspices of Piraeus and all client transactions will be performed without interruption, Piraeus pledged. The same applies to the cooperative banks that Panellinia worked with.
The 273-million-euro difference between the 645 million euros of liabilities and 372 million euros of assets will be covered by the Deposits and Investments Guarantee Fund. BoG announced that Panellinia’s deposits are entirely guaranteed by Piraeus.
The move serves to continue the consolidation and concentration of the local credit system, with Piraeus Bank having absorbed in recent years the healthy parts of ATEbank, Millennium Bank, Geniki Bank and the Greek networks of the three Cypriot banks active in Greece up to 2013 (Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank and Elliniki Bank).
Panellinia’s license has now been revoked and the bank has been put through the resolution process, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Solutions SA.
