Credit Agricole to sell Greek Emporiki arm while re-branding Romanian subsidiary

Credit Agricole wants to sell its Greek subsidiary Emporiki Bank and three other Greek banks have shown their interest in the takeover. National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank and Eurobank EFG are all interested in Emporiki, pending agreement from the Greek Fund for Financial Stability, according to the Financial Times. In May, the four largest Greek banks were offered some EUR 18 billion to increase the rate of capital adequacy to 8 percent and have access to financing from the European Central Bank.

In Romania, Emporiki Bank posted a loss of EUR 5.1 million in 2011, 62 percent less than in 2010. The French group transferred earlier in June all Emporiki Bank subsidiaries in the Balkans to Credit Agricole. In Romania, the bank will re-brand as Credit Agricole Bank Romania from August this year. Greece, which has been in dire straits this year, is trying to prevent its financial system from collapsing. People withdrew over EUR 10 billion from Greek banks before the June 17 elections, since then EUR 2 billion has been put back into the banking system. Credit Agricole took over Emporiki Bank in 2006 and has spent over EUR 5 billion since to consolidate its capital base. For this year, the key word for Emporiki Bank Romania is “adaptability”, said Pierre Martin, CEO Emporiki Bank Romania, adding that considering banking strategy, all the options are open at this time. “I don’t know how the economic environment will be in 2012. For this year, we are targeting flat profitability,” said Pierre Martin. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Credit Agricole)