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Credit Agricole reorganizes amid Greek euro worries

French bank Credit Agricole has taken control of assets in Albania, Bulgaria and Romania of its Greek subsidiary Emporiki Bank, it said in a statement, amid concern over a possible Greek euro exit.

Published: 15 June 2012 09:33 CEST
Credit Agricole reorganizes amid Greek euro worries

“This intra-group transaction is the last step of a process developed since the beginning of 2009 to reinforce links between Credit Agricole S.A. and Emporiki Group’s subsidiaries,” Emporiki said after Thursday’s board decision.

The deal is subject to approval from the relevant central banks.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that one of the scenarios that Credit Agricole was looking at was to pull out of Greece and Emporiki, or the possibility of merging with other banks in case of a eurozone exit.

Contacted by AFP, Credit Agricole declined to comment on the report.

Emporiki has been a source of heavy losses for Credit Agricole ever since the French bank bought the Greek lender in 2006. In June, Moody’s ratings agency downgraded Emporiki by two notches to just one step from default status.

Another French bank, Societe Generale, owns Greek lender Geniki which was also downgraded by two notches due to the heightened risks.

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ANGELA MERKEL

German war crime payments debated in Greece

Greece's parliament on Wednesday began a debate on a resolution to demand the payment of German war crime reparations, an issue long disputed by Berlin.

Published: 17 April 2019 12:21 CEST
German war crime payments debated in Greece
Angela Merkel and Alexis Tsipras in Greece in January. Photo: DPA

“These demands are always active. They were never set aside by Greece,” parliament chairman Nikos Voutsis told reporters this week.

The chamber is expected to approve later Wednesday, with cross-party support, a resolution calling on the government of Premier Alexis Tsipras “to take all the necessary diplomatic and legal steps to claim and fully satisfy all the demands of the Greek state stemming from World War I and World War II”.

A parliamentary committee last year determined that Germany owes Greece at least €270 billion for World War I damages and looting, atrocities and a forced loan during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

Reclaiming war reparations has been a campaign pledge by Tsipras since 2015. He faces multiple electoral challenges this year, with his party trailing in polls.

'Historical responsibility'

During a visit to Greece in January, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country “recognised its historical responsibility.”

SEE ALSO: Merkel says Germany recognizes responsibility for Nazi war crimes in Greece

“We recognize our historical responsibility. We know how much suffering we, as Germany in the time of Nazism, have brought to Greece,” she said.

In 2014, ex-president Joachim Gauck had also sought public forgiveness in the name of Germany from relatives of those murdered by the Nazis in the mountains of northern Greece.

But when it comes to actual payments, the German government has always insisted that the issue was settled in 1960 in a deal with several European governments.

Germany's government spokesman Steffen Seibert reiterated Wednesday that “the reparation issue is judicially and politically settled”. 

He said Berlin is doing “everything it can so Greece and Germany maintain good relations as friends and partners”. 

During the Greek economic crisis, there was further tension in Athens over draconian EU austerity and bailout terms seen to be imposed by Berlin hardliners.

Relations have improved over the last three years after Tsipras' government endorsed conditions linked to satisfying its creditors.

Tsipras and Merkel also worked closely on finding common ground on migration and Balkans security.

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