Emporiki Bank

Commercial Bank of Greece
Εμπορική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδας

Company type	Private
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Founded	1907 as Commercial Bank of Greece
Headquarters	Athens, Greece
Products	Commercial banking, Investment banking, Private banking, Asset management
Number of employees	4,000
Parent	Alpha Bank
Website	www.emporiki.gr

The Commercial Bank of Greece (Greek: Εμπορική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδας, thus also known as Emporiki Bank) was a bank established in London in 1907, with an initial focus on activity in Greece. In 1922, its operations expanded georgraphically through its affiliate the Commercial Bank of the Near East. Emporiki Bank in Greece was nationalized in 1975, and eventually purchased on 1 February 2013 by Alpha Bank which absorbed it into its network.

The Commercial Bank of Greece (CBG) was established in London by the Greek banker Gregorios Empedocles (Greek: Γρηγόριος Εμπεδοκλής) in 1907 and two years later listed on the stock exchange. In 1922, CBG established Commercial Bank of the Near East (CBNE) in London with CBG as a major shareholder and with the banker Nicolas Christofides as chief manager. The latter expanded CBG's international operations further by opening a first branch of the Commercial Bank of the Near East in Constantinople in 1922, a second one in Alexandria in 1925, and subsequently another in Cairo. Nicolas Christofides, who settled in Alexandria in the 1920s-30s, managed the Turkish and Egyptian branches of the CBNE until the 1960s.

After the Suez Crisis in 1956, Egypt nationalized the operations of British and French banks. To avoid nationalization, in 1957, N. Christofides convinced the Egyptian authorities that the Commercial Bank of the Near East, despite its official British nationality, was unofficially Greek, arguing that all shareholders and clients were Greek. Thus, CBNE, which was incorporated in London, transferred its branches in Egypt to Commercial Bank of Greece. This proved to be of only temporary help as in 1960 the Egyptian government nationalized all banks in Egypt, including CBG’s branches in Cairo and Alexandria.

At about the same time, i.e., in 1959, CBG acquired the Greek operations of Ionian Bank, including its ownership of Popular Bank. CBG continued to operate the bank separately, and later renamed it Ionian and Popular Bank of Greece. CBG also acquired a major shareholding in Banque du Piree (Piraeus Bank), which had been established in 1916. CBG continued to grow in Greece via acquisition when in it acquired a major equity stake (29% in 1995) in Bank of Attica, which had been established in 1925.

In 1965, CBG entered the European Common Market when it created Griechische Handelsbank in Frankfurt am Main. Later this subsidiary changed its name to Commercial Bank of Greece (Germany).

Twenty-five years later, in 1990, CBG renamed its subsidiary in London to Commercial Bank of London.

In 1994 CBG opened its first branch in Nicosia, Cyprus. The next year CBG’s International Banking Unit in Limassol, Cyprus commenced operations. CBG also started to expand in the former Communist countries. First, it became a strategic investor in Bulgarian Investment Bank. Meanwhile, CBG sold Commercial Bank of London to Alpha Credit Bank (now Alpha Bank), which renamed it Alpha Bank London.

In 1996 Bulgarian Investment Bank became International Commercial Bank (Bulgaria). CBG owned 91%, directly and indirectly, of the bank. CBG also established a wholly owned subsidiary, International Commercial Black Sea Bank (Romania), which later became Emporiki Bank România [ro]. CBG established International Commercial Black Sea Bank (Georgia) together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and United Georgian Bank. (United Georgian Bank was the result of the merger of three banks: Industrial Bank, Eximbank and New Georgian Bank – formerly Savings Bank.)

While it was expanding internationally, CBG started to rationalize its Greek business. Thus in 1997 CBG reduced its position in Attica Bank to 18%. More importantly, two years later it sold its 51% stake in Ionian Bank to Alpha Credit Bank. In 2001, CBG incorporated Commercial Bank of Greece (Cyprus), of which it owned 75%, and to which it contributed its four branches in Cyprus and its International Banking Unit there. At some point, Commercial Bank of Greece rebranded all its operations as Emporiki Bank.

CBG in 1998 established International Commercial Bank (Moldova), and Commercial Bank of Greece (Armenia). The next year CBG established a representative office in Odesa, as well as Intercommercial Bank (Albania) SA which started operating in 2000. Also in 2000, CBG acquired Romanian International Commercial Black Sea Bank and 35% of FinCom Bank in Moldova. However, in 2002, CBG started to undo its previous international expansion outside the Greek-speaking parts of the Mediterranean. First it disposed of its subsidiaries in Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. Then in 2005, Emporiki Bank disposed of its German subsidiary.

In 2011 Crédit Agricole bought 95% of the stock and subsequently withdrew Emporiki from the stock market. The profitable subsidiaries in Albania, Bulgaria and Romania were integrated directly into Crédit Agricole. The latter sold the troubled Greek bank one year later to Alpha Bank for €1.

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  Grigorios Empedoklis, founder of Emporiki Bank
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  Nicolas Christofides, founder and chief manager of the Commercial Bank of the Near East, pictured in Le Mondain Egyptien
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  Advert of the Commercial Bank of the Near East
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  Commercial Bank of the Near East in London, 1972
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  Emporiki Bank building in Thessaloniki

• List of banks in Greece

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