In Brief
Central bank adjusts regulations to Basel II The Bank of Greece yesterday issued 10 decrees on banks’ capital adequacy, harmonizing Greek law with the pertinent Basel II regulatory framework. «The decrees complete the inclusion of capital adequacy directives into Greek law,» the central bank said. The Basel II pact aims to ensure that banks worldwide meet similar requirements for matching their capital reserves to the risks they face. In 2004 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an international panel of bankers and regulators, introduced a risk-sensitive capital adequacy framework that comes into force in Europe at the end of the year. The new rules specify the criteria and procedures based on which credit institutions and the Bank of Greece may assess the adequacy of capital and risk-management systems. (Reuters) Turkish markets end mixed, election in background ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Turkish lira strengthened yesterday but stocks fell almost 1 percent, after a sell-off last week when Turkey led a slide in emerging markets. Investors largely ignored yesterday’s first round of voting for the Turkish presidency, where the Justice and Development Party’s Abdullah Gul did not get enough votes, though he is expected to win in the third round on August 28. The lira closed on the interbank market at 1.3455 against the dollar yesterday, almost 1 percent stronger than its interbank close on Friday, and well off levels as low as 1.4200 seen on Thursday. The yield on the May 6 2009 benchmark bond closed at 18.29 percent, well below Friday’s 18.71 percent, but in Tuesday-dated trade it rose back to 18.33 percent. Neochimiki Chemical firm Neochimiki has won a tender for Serb fertilizer producer IHP Prahovo and is expected to sign a final contract within 30 days, Serbia’s Privatization Agency said in statement yesterday. IHP Prahovo was heavily hit by the UN sanctions imposed on Serbia in the 1990s and now operates at 10 percent capacity. Neochimiki came first out of two bidders with an offer of 3.95 million euros for a 99.6 percent stake in the factory, and a pledge of an additional 20 million euros of investment. It will now enter into final talks with the privatization agency. It will be the Greek company’s second acquisition in Serbia this year. (Reuters) Romania extends deadline Romania extended a deadline to sell the state’s majority stake in electrical equipment maker Electroputere by one month to September 18, the country’s privatization agency AVAS said yesterday. In June, AVAS gave preliminary approval for Saudi Arabia’s Al Arrab Contracting Company Limited to buy the loss-making plant, an industrial enterprise dating back to communist years. AVAS said in a statement the extension was required to allow the complex negotiations to be completed. (Reuters) Cyprus merger talks Marfin Popular Bank said yesterday merger talks between its subsidiary Laiki Investment and investment firm CLR were to resume in the last days of August and be concluded in the first weeks of September. (Reuters)
