Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-02-08

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Alt. FM Katrougalos to meet with European Commissioner Moscovici

[02] Review will soon be concluded as there are not many open issues, Economy Minister Papadimitriou says

[03] The challenges for the Greek banking system in the day after

[04] Number of recorded migrants and refugees on islands drops below 10,000 for first time

[01] Alt. FM Katrougalos to meet with European Commissioner Moscovici

The meeting will focus on the course of the negotiations on the second review of the Greek programme as well as on the general geopolitical condition.

Later, Katrougalos will have series of meetings with Greek MEPs.

The minister's meetings in Brussels will continue on Thursday.

[02] Review will soon be concluded as there are not many open issues, Economy Minister Papadimitriou says

Asked on the dangers of the delay, he said "I have founded reasons to believe that the programme review will be concluded without repercussions on the country."

He estimated that the unstable political climate will positively affect Greece since it puts pressure on EU to ensure the internal consistency of operation and existence.

[03] The challenges for the Greek banking system in the day after

According to a study by Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) the 14 challenges are the following: 1. The restructuring of banking portfolio through a more efficient resolution of the problem of non-performing loans with social sensitivity and improving the institutional framework for the restructuring of NPLs. 2. Finding ways to restart the investment process and return to growth. 3. Maintaining the reduction trend of Greek banks' dependence on state aid and the Eurosystem until their redemption and full repayment, respectively. 4. The consistent implementation and application of restructuring plans of Greek banks. 5. Increasing the rate of deposits return to the Greek banking system by focusing on domestic cash, which remain outside the system, and deposits abroad with negative returns. 6. Deferred tax liabilities, which are considered by the supervisory authorities and in some cases by the markets, as of lower quality capital, as their recoverability is related with bank profitability. 7. The IFRS 9, which will be implemented from 2018 and will replace the loss model (incurred loss model) to the expected loss model, will result in higher provisions with all negative consequences that entails for the capital adequacy of banks. 8. The introduction of the "minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities', known as MREL, through which it seeks to ensure that banks have sufficient obligations with the opportunity of absorbing losses in case of reorganization (resolution), in order to be able to face banking crises in the future, to maintain banking stability and to minimize the burden on taxpayers. 9. The new requirement MREL implies the need for banks to issue new eligible liabilities, mainly senior bonds, with cost that banks will have to incorporate in their business model. 10. New technologies will radically change the banking system, both in terms of providing services to bank customers and in relation to the introduction of new business models that will complement or, possibly, will completely replace traditional banking. 11. Restoring confidence in the Greek economy from the perspective of citizens, markets and partners.12. The positive credit growth, though a necessary condition for sustainable economic development, will follow and not precede the economic recovery. 13. In the area of ​​corporate governance, changes in the ownership structure of Greek banks after the recent recapitalization, with foreign institutional investors holding significant equity rates, as well as recent changes of legal and supervisory nature, brought about significant changes in banks' Boards of Directors, posing another challenge for the Greek banking system. 14. Further expansion of the shareholder base to private investors, foreign portfolios but also Greek, whose participation significantly decreased in recent years due to recapitalizations.

[04] Number of recorded migrants and refugees on islands drops below 10,000 for first time

The decline is attributed to the low flow to the islands and the acceleration of the asylum requests procedure.No arrivals were reported for second consecutive day and according to police 9,987 people that have sought asylum and their request has been not examined yet were still stranded on the islands on Wednesday morning.

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