Greece returns remaining bank shares

Eurobank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and now the National Bank of Greece: The Greek state is giving back its shares in financial institutions. The reprivatization is now considered complete – faster than planned.

After government aid measures due to the financial crisis, Greece reprivatized remaining banks. Until now, the Greek bank rescue fund still held almost a fifth of the shares in the National Bank of Greece, one of the four systemically important major banks in Greece. This share will now be listed on the stock exchange and part of it will be transferred to the Greek sovereign wealth fund.

In order to avoid surprises – as was the case with the entry of the Italian UniCredit into the German Commerzbank – some of the shares are intended for domestic investors. The sale means: The Greek bank rescue fund is divesting itself of its remaining holdings in the major banks and will subsequently be dissolved.

The banks were in trouble during the crisis and were supported with foreign capital and a state rescue fund.

50 billion euros for stability

With the latest step, the four major financial institutions have been reprivatized: Eurobank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and the National Bank of Greece. The whole thing worked out faster than planned; the end of 2025 was originally targeted.

The banks are benefiting from the economic recovery in Greece and from the fact that the country is once again rated as worthy of investment by the major rating agencies. During the debt crisis, the Greek bank rescue fund had to help the institutions with fresh money several times. For this purpose, he was provided with 50 billion euros by the Euro Stability Fund.