NBG-Lehman deals at 4 million euros
National Bank, Greece’s largest lender, said yesterday its exposure to Lehman Brothers transactions on a group level is just under 4 million euros, easing concerns about potential losses stemming from the firm’s collapse. The Greek lender said in a statement its private banking customers had also placed 6.8 million euros in deals involving Lehman Brothers. «The above amounts consist of the maximum possible damage (but) the settlement procedures that are currently in progress could contribute to their reduction,» the bank said. The local press has been reporting that Greek banks and their clients may lose tens of million of euros from the collapse of the investment bank earlier this month. Sources have said Alpha Bank has placed some 90 million euros in Lehman bonds through its asset management branch. Eurobank, the country’s second-largest lender, is believed to have placed 30 million euros in Lehman bonds, of which a portion had been insured against bankruptcy, sources added. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc filed the biggest bankruptcy suit in US history on September 15. It reported assets of $639 billion and debts of $613 billion. The investment bank’s bond-holders stand to get anywhere from nothing to 29 cents on the dollar, analysts said yesterday.
