In Brief
EU Parliament, leaders back Malta, Cyprus euro entry BRUSSELS -The European Parliament backed yesterday bids by Cyprus and Malta to adopt the euro on January 1 next year, and draft conclusions of an EU summit showed the bloc’s leaders would follow suit today. The go-ahead from Parliament, along with the approval of EU heads of state and government, are formal requirements for the two small Mediterranean islands to join the single currency, now shared by 13 countries. «The European Council congratulates Cyprus and Malta on the convergence achieved since accession to the EU, based on sound economic and financial policies, and welcomes both countries’ fulfillment of all the convergence criteria as set out in the treaty,» the draft conclusions, obtained by Reuters, said. «In this context, the European Council welcomes the (European) Commission proposal that Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro on January 1, 2008,» it said. Final approval for their membership is expected to be given by EU finance ministers at their meeting on July 10. (Reuters) Rumors of HSBC bid for Alpha Bank denied Alpha Bank, Greece’s second-largest lender, has not received an acquisition offer by HSBC, a senior official at the Greek bank said yesterday. «There is no offer from HSBC for Alpha Bank,» the official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters. The official was responding to a flurry of rumors, sparked off by a report on a UK-based website, according to which Greece’s Alpha and EFG Eurobank could be acquisition targets by HSBC. Other Alpha Bank officials warned the investment public to be particularly careful about the rumors, which were linked to speculative moves on the stock market. HSBC officials refused to comment on «stock market rumors.» According to other recent rumors, Alpha was also being mulled as an acquisition target by Marfin Financial Group, which implemented a 5.2-billion-euro share capital increase, but its CEO Andreas Vgenopoulos also denied them. (Kathimerini, Reuters) Al Watany Bank Al Watany Bank of Egypt said yesterday the country’s central bank had agreed to allow three banks, including two from Kuwait, to conduct due-diligence studies that could lead to potential offers for the bank. Al Watany Bank spokeswoman told Reuters the three banks were the National Bank of Kuwait, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Greek lender EFG Eurobank. «The central bank has given these banks six weeks to conduct due diligence,» she said. (Reuters) Airbus A330 order European planemaker Airbus said it won a firm order for two A330-200F freighters, plus one option, from Turkey’s MNG Airlines. This followed a memorandum of understanding signed in January, Airbus said at the Paris air show yesterday. (Reuters)
