Karatzas honored
National Bank of Greece Chairman Theodoros Karatzas, 71, was made a member of France’s Legion d’Honneur in a ceremony at the French Embassy in Athens yesterday. Luc Asselin de Williencourt, who officiated at the ceremony in the absence of Ambassador Jean-Maurice Rippert, lauded Karatzas’s long career as a lawyer, banker and reforming minister. As deputy national economy minister, in 1987-88, Karatzas oversaw a significant reform of the Greek banking system. Since September 11, when the USA found itself the target of unprecedented air attacks, the passenger load has fallen by 10 to 15 percent, he said.