Greece’s Piraeus Bank expects to conclude deals to take over the Cypriot banks operating in Greece by noon on Tuesday, Greece’s third-largest lender by assets said.
On Friday Greece’s bank bailout fund picked Piraeus to acquire the Greek operations of troubled Cypriot lenders Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank and possibly Hellenic Bank to shield the country’s banking system from fallout from the Cyprus crisis.
“The signing of agreements to acquire the networks of Cypriot banks in Greece is expected to be completed by noon (on Tuesday) at the latest in order to sort out remaining technical details,” Piraeus Bank said in a statement.
Trading in the shares of Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank on the Athens Stock Exchange continued to be suspended.
The bank said it was up to the managements of the three Cypriot lenders whether their branches will open for business before the signing of the agreements.
(source: Reuters)
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