Cold water on bank merger speculation
The chief executive officer of Eurobank EFG, Nikos Nanopoulos (fourth from right), appeared reserved on the subject of bank mergers in his speech before the annual general meeting of the bank’s shareholders. Nanopoulos, one of the most trusted figures in the domestic banking industry, did not rule out any moves of strategic cooperation with another bank, but only in the long term and depending on the conditions of the time and the interests of the shareholders and the bank. However, for now ‘conditions are telling us that we can make it by ourselves and that this might just be better. We are shielded in terms of cash flow and of capital adequacy,’ said Nanopoulos. He added that the Credit Stability Fund, created within the context of the EU and IMF support mechanism, as well as the cash flow injections by the European Central Bank, have provided banks with a safety net.
