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Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-06-04Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Foreign investors' participation in ASE up in MayForeign investors raised their participation at the Athens Stock Exchange to 48.7 percent in May, up from 47.2 pct in April, although foreign investors recorded net outflows totaling 65.89 million euros in the month. Greek investors recorded a net inflow of 86.41 million euros in the market.Foreign investors accounted for 40.9 pct of total trading activity in the Greek market in May, down from 47.1 pct in April and 69.3 pct in May 2008. Greek investors accounted for 58.3 pct of activity (42.2 pct private investors, 14.2 pct private financial companies and 1.8 pct non financial companies). Turnover grew 41.7 pct in May from April to 5.2 billion euros, although it was down 51 pct compared with May 2008. Daily average turnover in May was 260.6 million euros, from 204.4 million in April and 505.3 million euros in May 2008. The number of active investors' codes grew to 84,439 in May from 68,357 in April. The market's capitalization totaled 87.2 billion euros in May 29, 2009, up from 75.7 billion euros a month earlier, but sharply down from 153.4 billion euros in May 2008. [02] Piraeus Bank sells 500-mln-euro 2-year bondPiraeus Bank on Thursday announced the successful completion of a two-year bond worth 500 million euros as part of an EMTN (Euro Medium Term Note) aimed to raise medium- to long-term capital. Piraeus Group Finance Plc was the issuer of the bond.A bank statement said the international investment community welcomed its bond issue, with a book building surpassing 1.25 billion euros (2.5 times oversubscribed). A total of 96 investors from 15 countries participated in the bond offer, with 60 pct offered to international institutional investors. Piraeus Bank said its two-year bond carries a 4.50 pct coupon and will be listed in the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Merrill Lynch were underwriters of the issue. [03] Minister receives Arsakeio Tirana pupilsEducation Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos received at his office on Thursday a group of visiting elementary pupils from the Arsakeio School of Tirana, Albania.Spiliotopoulos commented afterwards that bridges of substantive cooperation with neighboring countries, like Albania, can be built only through culture and education. "This bilingual school has helped upgrade education in Albania while, at the same time, allowing the creation of communication channels, forging relations of mutual cooperation and understanding," he stressed. [04] Ex-Siemens exec testifiesA one-time former senior executive at Siemens appeared before a special examining magistrate in Athens on Thursday as a suspect in an ongoing bribery and money-laundering investigation involving the German multinational's extensive dealings with Greek state contracts over the past two decades or so.Like others charged in connection with the case, Volker Jung is accused of bribery and legalising income from illegal activities in connection with a contract awarded to Siemens in 1997 by state-run telecom Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE). At one time Jung headed of the German multinational's communications unit and was also head of the supervisory board at Siemens' Greek subsidiary, Siemens Hellas. In another development linked to the same explosive case, the lawyers hired to defend the family of Christos Karavelas, a fugitive from Greek justice whose wife and two daughters were arrested by authorities earlier this week, announced that they were resigning because they disagreed with the defence tactics adopted by the family. The defence of Karavelas' daughters has now been taken on by the lawyer Sakis Kehagioglou. Kehagioglou paid a visit to special examining magistrate Nikos Zagorianos, who is in charge of the case, on Thursday to inform him that he was taking over the defence of the three Karavelas daughters facing complicity in money-laundering charges. The charges against them are based on the fact that their father transferred large sums of money into joint accounts held with his daughters' names from his own account in Switzerland. The Athens attorney announced that he would appeal against their detention in custody and also seek a reduction of a one-million-euro bail imposed on each of Karavelas' two adult daughters. All the women deny any involvement in the activities of their father. Gov't on Siemens developments Commenting on his use of the term "remand prisoner" for another defendant in the case, Georgios Skarpelis, the previous day, government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros on Thursday noted that the term might not have been absolutely precise, but that this did not alter the essence of what he had said. "The person I was referring to was, in fact, being held by prosecuting authorities and the point lies elsewhere. I was referring to persons who were known from a certain period and the role that they played in specific positions," he pointed out, repeating that the Siemens affair was a scandal linked to main opposition PASOK governments and their questionable decisions. Regarding the flight from justice of Siemens suspect Christos Karavelas, the spokesman noted that any responsibility by the current administration would be discovered and dealt with. Questioned about the testimony of former Siemens AG manager Reinhard Siekaczek, who said that both large political parties in Greece received kickbacks from the company's slush funds, Antonaros stressed that New Democracy did not need to do much, since former top PASOK cadre and MP Theodoros Tsoukatos has already admitted to receiving one million marks from Siemens as a campaign contribution that he passed on to PASOK coffers. "The rest are simply assertions," he added, noting that there was no record of even a single D-mark being contributed to ND. Caption: Former Siemens executive Volker Jung exits the Athens first instance courthouse complex in this photo, dated Wednesday, May 27, 2009. ANA-MPA / A. BELTES. [05] EFAMA AGM in AthensAthens will host the annual general meeting of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), a group that includes Greece's Association of Institutional Investors.The includes 26 national associations and 44 asset management groups, with portfolios totaling 11 trillion euros, of which more than 6.0 trillion euros were managed by 54,000 mutual funds. The general assembly, to be held June 19-20, will bring together to management executives from Allianz Global Investors, Invesco, Credit Agricole Asset Management, Schroders Plc, BNP Investment, Union Asset Management, F&C, DWS Investments, Robeco, etc. The general assembly will elect a new president for a two-year term. Aris Xenofos, the president of the Greek Institutional Investors Association, said hosting of this significant event in Greece underlined the Association's dynamic role in asset management in the country and in the wider New Europe region. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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