Greece bank advisers to submit report in September

Greece's bank privatisation advisers will submit by the end of this month a keenly awaited report on how the debt-laden country should restructure its ailing banking system, the finance minister said on Tuesday.

Greece hired HSBC <HSBA.L>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and Lazard <LAZ.N> on Aug. 26, as part of efforts to shore up its lenders against the effects of its sovereign debt crisis.

The government is considering selling stakes in state-controlled banks and has urged private lenders to merge after Greek financial institutions lost access to the interbank market and have come to rely on the ECB for funding.

Bigger banks would better cope with lower deposits and more bad loans as the economy goes through its deepest recession in almost 40 years, analysts say.

"At the end of the month we will have the financial advisers' report on our strategic options in the banking system," Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou said, according to the transcript of a news conference he gave in Brussels.

"The (final) decisions are for the Greek government to make," Papaconstantinou added.

The three advisers will also evaluate a 701 million euro ($893.4 million) cash offer by Piraeus Bank <BOPr.AT> to buy government stakes in state-controlled lenders ATEbank <AGBr.AT> and Hellenic Postbank <GPSr.AT>.