Piraeus Bank <BOPr.AT>, Greece's fourth largest lender, said on Friday it plans to boost capital by 1.05 billion euros ($1.45 billion), in view of stricter capital adequacy rules. Confirming an earlier Reuters story the bank said it would convene shareholder meetings on November 23 to approve a 800 million euro rights issue and a 250
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Britain's top share index rose on Thursday, buoyed by commodity stocks which rebounded after sharp falls in the previous session, with Royal Dutch Shell in demand as investors cheered its third-quarter results. The FTSE 100 was up 43.56 points, or 0.8%, in early trading at 5,689.58, recovering after it fell 1.1% to 5,646.02 on Wednesday,
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Russia is preparing legislation to set up private security firms using ex-soldiers and police to protect its oil, gas and mineral holdings in conflict zones abroad, a lawmaker and ex-KGB officer said in an interview. Gennady Gudkov said up to 1,000 security personnel would operate along the lines of U.S. and British private security firms,
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German government bonds rose on Thursday, finding some support from stronger U.S. Treasuries and a further sell-off in peripheral euro zone debt, led by Portuguese and Irish bonds. Bunds were recovering after sharp selling this week due to traders reassessing the scale of possible U.S. quantitative easing, and a lowering of expectations for further asset
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Japan's Nikkei average slipped to its lowest close in six weeks on Thursday as a short-covering boost after the Bank of Japan unveiled details of its asset-buying scheme failed to last. The Nikkei briefly touched a session high of 9,413.68 shortly after the BOJ announcement, but investors were unwilling to chase prices higher at the
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Hong Kong stocks ended slightly higher on Thursday, with gains by banks on the back of stronger-than-expected earnings offsetting declines in property and energy counters. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 0.2% at 23,210.86, recovering slightly from Wednesday's 1.9% drop. The China Enterprises Index rose 0.51%, driven by a strong day for mainland banks.
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The outlook for the Cypriot banking system is negative, reflecting the challenging operating conditions and the rated banks' direct and sizeable exposure to the Greek economy, Moody's Investors Service said in a new Banking System Outlook. "Asset quality and earnings for the rated Cypriot banks will remain under pressure in the near to medium term,
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Greece's much-revised 2009 budget deficit will be set "once and for all" by Eurostat at above 15 percent of GDP, the country's finance minister said on Wednesday. Greece's 2011 draft budget earlier this month estimated the 2009 deficit at 13.8 percent of gross domestic product, but the EU's statistics office Eurostat is expected to revise
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Shares in Piraeus Bank, Greece's fourth-largest lender, fell more than 5 percent on Wednesday on press reports the bank plans to boost capital via a rights issue or a convertible bond, brokers said. "Talk that Piraeus will proceed with a cash call is the reason the shares are falling. We saw it happen with National
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Greece's ecomomy will contract by up to 3 percent next year, the country's finance minister said on Wednesday. "Growth will contract by 4 percent this year, and next year by between 2.5 and 3 percent," Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told an economic conference. In the 2011 draft budget published earlier this month, the Greek government
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