Piraeus Bank

Encyclopedia : P : PI : PIR : Piraeus Bank

For the Romanian branch of Piraeus Bank, see Piraeus Bank Romania

Piraeus Bank is a large, aggressively expanding Greek bank with about 270 branches, including one in London, and subsidiaries in New York and the Balkans.

History

1916: Banque du Piree (Piraeus Bank; BP) established.
1975: BP came under government ownership.
1991: The government privatized BP and the bank changed its name to Piraeus Bank (PB).
1998: PB absorbed the activities of Chase Manhattan Bank (2 branches) in Greece, and Crédit Lyonnais Greece. It also acquired 37% of Macedonia-Thrace (Macedonia-Thrace) Bank from National Bank of Greece in a privatization.
1999: PB acquired 35% of Xios Bank. PB also absorbed the activities of National Westminster Bank in Greece.
2000: PB merged in Macedonia-Thrace Bank and Xios Bank.
2002: PB acquired 58% of ETBA Bank (Hellenic Industrial Development Bank) from the Greek government with a view to merging it. PB also entered into a strategic alliance with ING Group, which took a 5% stake in PB.
2003: PB merged in ETBA Bank.

International expansion

1995: PB established Piraeus Bank Romania.
1996: PB established Tirana Bank. This was the first privately owned banking institution in Albania and now has 15 branches.
1999: with its acquisition of Xiosbank, PB gets Xios's branch in Sofia, Bulgaria, and PB now has some 15 branches in the country. PB also acquires Marathon National Bank of Astoria, New York, which has branches in Astoria, Bayside, Broadway and Bayridge. Astoria is a town with a large population fo Greek descent.
2000: PB acquires Pater Bank in Romania from Budapest Bank. Pater Bank targeted Hungarians living in Romania.
2003: PB acquired Interbank N.Y., which operated a network of 5 branches in New York City, and specifically in Brooklyn, Astoria, Queens, as well as in Park Avenue, downtown Manhattan. PB then merged Interbank with Marathon National.
2005: PB acquires Belgrade based Atlas banka in Serbia.

PB has a branch in London, and had a branch in Frankfurt that it may have closed.

External links

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