Troika appoints monitors at 4 Greek banks

Accounting firm Grant Thornton has been named as the monitor for the biggest bank, National Bank of Greece, as well as Eurobank, the smaller rival it is in the process of buying.

KPMG was named to monitor Piraeus Bank and Mazars will supervise Alpha Bank.

The supervision comes into effect this month.

The so-called monitoring trustees are to work under the direction of the European Commission, which along with the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund is bailing out debt-stricken Greece.

The country's second, 130 billion euro bailout package sets aside 50 billion euros to recapitalise its battered banking sector and international lenders want better supervision to ensure lenders follow best practices.

The trustees, who will oversee the implementation of the banks' restructuring plans, are expected to also have a say on how the lenders manage their loan book.