Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-03-26

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] DIMAR leader: Decision for Cyprus painful

[02] Independent Greeks accuse Eurogroup president of undermining banking system in EU

[03] SAP to relocate south Europe HQ to Greece

[04] Acquisition of Cypriot banks branches in Greece completed

[01] DIMAR leader: Decision for Cyprus painful

After the meeting, Kouvelis said that the Eurogroup's decision for Cyprus was harsh and painful but "inside the eurozone". amna

Kouvelis added that Greece succeeded in keeping the Cypriot banks' branches in Greece as well as the jobs and the bank deposits, which is very important' and expressed his solidarity with the Cypriots in the ordeal they are going through.

[02] Independent Greeks accuse Eurogroup president of undermining banking system in EU

Independent Greeks parliamentary spokesman Notis Marias, in statements, intimated at a possibly deliberate intervention, which caused turbulence on the stockmarkets, and said that "Eurogroup president Dijsselbloem's statements, with which he paved the way for a 'haircut' of bank deposits throughout Europe, irrevocably undermine the stability and security of the banking system in the EU countries, giving at the same time the opportunity to the various 'vultures' to speculate unabashedly on the stockmarkets throughout Europe".amna

"Incidental?", he questioned.

Marias also criticised the appointment of Otto Rehaggel (the German former coach of the Greek national soccer team) as Germany's "honorary ambassador" to Greece.

Marias called Rehaggel "the organ of Merkel's (German chancellor) Memorandum policy", and warned that he was "at risk of being shown a red card" by the Greeks.

[03] SAP to relocate south Europe HQ to Greece

SAP, the enterprise application software market leader, posted profits of more than 11 billion euros in 2011, has more than 55,000 employees throughout the world and 190,000 clients the world over.

After the meeting, Snabe said he was impressed by the improvement presented by Greece and described his discussion with the Prime Minister as "very constructive", adding that the company's aim is to support Greek growth which, he said, is on the Greek government's agenda.amna

"We will invest in Greece," Snabe said, and announced that SAP will relocate its headquarters for southern Europe to Greece.

The two men examined ways for cooperation, aiming at reducing unemployment in Greece and boosting innovative entrepreneurship, while Snabe pledged to support initiatives by young entrepreneurs.

[04] Acquisition of Cypriot banks branches in Greece completed

Following the agreement, the branches in Greece of the three Cypriot banks -- Cyprus Bank, Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB) and Hellenic Bank -- will reopen on Wednesday a Piraeus Bank announcement said, and assured that the bank deposits in the Greek branches are not subject to any levy or haircut that has been agreed in Cyprus.

The announcement by Piraeus Bank said:

"Piraeus Bank signed an agreement today to acquire all of the Greek deposits, loans and branches of Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB) and Hellenic Bank, including loans and deposits of their Greek subsidiaries (leasing, factoring and the Investment Bank of Greece (IBG)), for a total cash consideration of 524 million euro.

The agreement follows the proposal submitted in response to the invitation addressed to Greek banks by the Greek Government, the Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF), with regard to the acquisition of the branch network and operations of the 3 Cypriot banks in Greece.

The transaction ensures the stability of the Greek banking system, provides assistance to Cyprus in relation to the resolution of the crisis and secures depositors, customers and employees of the 3 Cypriot banks in Greece post recent uncertainty.amna

Following the completion of the transaction, Piraeus Bank Group will have consolidated total assets of €95bn, 1,660 branches and 24,000 employees.

Piraeus Bank Group has a long and proven experience of seamless and swift integration and has successfully executed more than 15 acquisitions and mergers in the last 15 years, which minimizes any implementation risk. Piraeus Bank will carefully manage the integration of the Greek operations of the 3 Cypriot banks and simultaneously deliver value and opportunities for all of its stakeholders.

The transaction represents another important step towards the restructuring of the Greek banking system, in which Piraeus Bank has participated from the very beginning as a core pillar, contributing to the effort to rebalance the Greek economy.amna

Barclays Bank PLC, acting through its investment bank, Deutsche Bank AG London Branch, and Lazard Frères acted as financial advisors to Piraeus Bank for the transaction.

The branches of the 3 Cypriot banks in Greece will open tomorrow Wednesday, 27 March 2013 and all the operations will be run in the normal course of business.

Customer deposits with the Greek branches of Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB) and Hellenic Bank are not subject to any bank levy or haircut that has been agreed in Cyprus.amna

For any queries, customers and depositors can contact their branch or dial 182838 / +30 210 32 88000."

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