Alpha Bank

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Alpha Services and Holdings S.A.[1]
Alpha Υπηρεσιών και Συμμετοχών[1]
Native name
Alpha Υπηρεσιών και Συμμετοχών Α.Ε.[1]
FormerlyBank of Kalamata, Commercial Credit Bank[2]
Company typePublic
AthexALPHA
ISINGRS015003007[3]
IndustryFinancial services
Founded10 March 1918; 106 years ago (1918-03-10)[1] in Kalamata, Greece[2]
FounderJohn Costopoulos[2]
Headquarters
Athens
,
Greece[1]
Number of locations
450 branches[4] (2021)
Area served
Key people
[5]
  • Decrease €1.502 billion (2021)
[4]
  • Decrease €2.906 billion (2021)
[4]
Total assets
  • Increase €73.356 billion (2021)
[4]
Total equity
  • Decrease €6.080 billion (2021)
[4]
OwnerUniCredit (8.9%)[6]
Number of employees
8,487 Edit this on Wikidata
Subsidiaries
  • Alpha Bank
  • Alpha Bank Cyprus
  • Alpha Bank London
  • Alpha Bank Romania (99.92%)
[7]
Capital ratioTier 1 Ratio 13.2% (2021)[8]
Websitewww.alphaholdings.gr
Alpha Bank Residence Thessaloniki

Alpha Bank is a private Greek bank. Its founder was John Kostopoulos[9] Alpha Bank's Network in Greece has 273 branches and 783 ATMs.[10]

The Group operates in Greece, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Romania with a network of 420 retail outlets (273 in Greece, 12 in Cyprus, 133 in Romania, 1 in the United Kingdom, 1 in Luxembourg) and employs 8,476 people in Greece and abroad.[11]

Alpha Bank has been listed on the Athens Stock Exchange since November 1925.

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

John F. Costopoulos, Painting by Georgios Jakobides, 1919

Ioannis F. Kostopoulos, a textile merchant from Sperhogeia in Messinia, founded a commercial shop in 1882 in Kalamata and in 1885 he started to be active in foreign exchange trading. [12] In 1916 the trading house was transformed into a bank under the "Bank I. F. Kostopoulos" with the participation of Laiki Bank of Dionysios Loverdos.[13] In 1918 the bank was transformed from a limited partnership to a limited liability company called "Bank of Kalamata.[13]

After the death of Ioannis F. Kostopoulos, the reins of the bank were taken over initially by Spyros Kostopoulos and then by Dimitrios Kostopoulos, who in 1923 merged the banking division of the commercial house "Ioannis F. Kostopoulos" with the Bank of Kalamon, creating the "Bank of Hellenic Commercial Credit" based in Athens.[12][14] On 2 November 1925 the bank was listed on the Athens Stock Exchange and in 1932 the bank moved to a privately owned building on Stadiou and Pezmazoglou streets.

The economic crisis of 1929 forced the "Bank of Hellenic Commercial Credit" to reduce its network of branches and to seek financing from the National Bank of Greece, which now appointed a representative to its board of directors. [15] Dimitris Kostopoulos was succeeded in the leadership of the bank by his sons Spyros and Stavros Kostopoulos.[16]

The war period that would follow would lead the bank to a dead end, which would liquidate almost all its assets. The board of directors will even call an extraordinary general meeting on 19 December 1944 to dissolve the company. The dissolution would not take place due to the events of Dekemvriana and after the Treaty of Varkiza the decision of the directors would be revised.[17]

In Greece[edit]

In 1879, John F. Costopoulos established a small commercial firm in the city of Kalamata. The banking department of the "J.F. Costopoulos" firm changed its name to Bank of Kalamata in 1918. The bank moved its headquarters to Athens and changed its name to Banque de Credit Commercial Hellenique in 1924, and on 2 November 1925 the bank was listed on the Athens Exchange.[18]

The bank changed its name to the Commercial Credit Bank (CCB) in 1947, and this name was changed to Credit Bank (Trapeza Pisteos) in 1972, and to Alpha Credit Bank (ACB) in 1994.

In 1999, ACB acquired 51% of the shares of the Ionian Popular Bank, and absorbed it in 2000. It also changed its name to name to Alpha Bank. An attempted merger between Alpha Bank and the National Bank of Greece fell through in 2002.

In 2012, Alpha Bank called off its merger with Eurobank Ergasias, which had been announced the previous year.[19] The same year, Alpha Bank acquired the Greek department of Emporiki Bank from Credit Agricole for €1.[20] The legal merger was completed on 28 June 2013.[21] On 31 May 2013 the bank proceeded in a successful recapitalization with an over-subscription of the required private-sector participation in the Rights Issue, which resulted in the preservation of Alpha Bank's private character.[22] Alpha Bank also took over the deposits of Cooperative Bank of Dodecanese, Cooperative Bank of Western Macedonia, and Cooperative Bank of Evia in 2013,[23] and acquired the entire share capital of Emporiki Bank.

On 31 March 2014 Alpha Bank successfully completed its €1.2 billion capital increase.[24] The Bank redeemed the total amount of the Hellenic Republic's Preference Shares on 17 April 2014.[25] On 26 October 2014 Alpha Bank announced the successful completion of the European Central Bank's (ECB) Comprehensive Assessment in the Static Adverse Scenario with CET1 8.07% and Capital Surplus of Euro 1.3 billion. Based on the dynamic adverse assumptions, CET1 stands at 8.45% with Capital Surplus of Euro 1.8 billion.[26] Also in 2014, Alpha Bank took over Citibank's Greek retail banking operations.[27]

Alpha Bank requested Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) from the Bank of Greece on 16 January 2015.[28] Its total funding from the ECB (ELA and non-ELA) was €29.9 bn as of 30 September 2015. On 17 July 2015 it sold its Bulgarian branches to Postbank (Bulgaria), the subsidiary of fellow Greek bank Eurobank Ergasias.

Alpha Bank's 2015 end-year result is Risk-Weighted Assets: €52.6bn. Total loans: €62 bn (€52.5 bn in Greek loans, €9.5bn in loans abroad). 51.3% are non-performing exposures using the European Banking Authority definition, with a 50% Provision coverage and €31.4 bn in deposits (€26.3 bn in Greek deposits). Loan to deposit ratio=147%. Cost to income ratio=50%.

In 2019, Alpha Bank was among the Greek organisations raided by authorities as part of an investigation on anti-competitive practices, horizontal agreements or exclusionary practices in the provision of payment services.[29]

International expansion[edit]

In 1960, the Commercial Credit Bank established a subsidiary in Cyprus that it may later have closed or sold.

The bank started a program of international expansion, especially in Southeastern Europe, in early 1990. In 1994, Credit Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) established Banca București in Romania, which commenced operations the following year. Credit Bank owned about 50% of the bank. The ACB also acquired the Commercial Bank of London from the Commercial Bank of Greece (Emporiki Bank) in 1994 and renamed it Alpha Credit Bank London.

In 1998 ACB established a branch in Tirana, Albania, and followed that with three more branches. In the same year, it acquired 82.5% of Lombard NatWest Bank in Cyprus and renamed it Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd. In 1999 ACB acquired 65% of Kreditna Banka, Skopje, in North Macedonia.(see Alpha Bank Skopje).

Banca București changed its name to Alpha Bank Romania (ABR) in 2000. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena took a 5% share in the bank, and Alpha Bank's share became 63%. ABR itself acquired a 12.5% stake in Victoria Bank (est. 1989), the largest private bank in Moldova. In 2002 ACB acquired the minority stake and became the sole shareholder in Alpha Bank Skopje, accounting for 100% of its share capital. Alpha Bank acquired an 88.64% stake in Serbian Jubanka and changed its name to Alpha Bank Beograd, and then to Alpha Bank Srbija in early 2005.

Alpha Bank also has an extensive branch network in Bulgaria, the foundation of which it inherited from Ionian and Popular Bank, which entered in 1994 with a representative office in Sofia.

In August 2007, the Turkish Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Agency blocked Alpha Bank's move to buy a 50% share in Alternatif Bank (ABank) citing Alpha Bank as not meeting the terms of Article 8 of Turkey's banking law. The article covers the financial strength, track record and personal history of a bank's board of directors.[30] On 27 March 2008 Alpha Bank reached a deal to buy a majority stake in newly established OJSC Astra Bank in Ukraine, as part of plans to expand in the region.[31] Alpha Bank agreed to buy 90% of Astra Bank for €9 million. Astra Bank became insolvent in March 2015, and in July 2015 it was acquired 100% by Agro Holdings (Ukraine) Limited (a company owned by the US-based NCH Capital).[32]

Alpha Bank has a branch in London and a finance company, and ran Alpha Finance US, in New York, which no longer exists.[33]

In October 2023 it was announced that Alpha Bank in Romania will merge with UniCredit leaving Alpha with a 9.9% holding in the new Romanian bank.[34]

Other[edit]

Listing on the Athens Exchange[edit]

The company is listed on the Athens Exchange with the stock symbol ALPHA; the ISIN is GRS015013006.[18] As of 11 August 2015, the number of securities outstanding and the number of securities listed is 12769059858 (around 12.7 billion).[18]

The stock is one of the 25 stocks in the FTSE/Athex Large Cap index (11 August 2015).[35]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Στοιχεία Δημοσιότητας". Business Registry (in Greek). Union of Hellenic Chambers Of Commerce. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Timeline". Alpha Bank. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "Profile". Athens Exchange Group. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021" (PDF). Alpha Services and Holdings. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  5. ^ "Board of Directors". Alpha Services and Holdings. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "Στη UniCredit το 8,9% της Alpha Bank". November 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "Annual Report For 2021" (PDF). Alpha Bank. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  8. ^ "Pillar III Disclosures Report for December 31, 2021" (PDF). Alpha Services and Holdings. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  9. ^ Πέθανε ο ιδρυτής της Alpha Bank Γιάννης Κωστόπουλος
  10. ^ "Δίκτυο Καταστημάτων".
  11. ^ "Δίκτυο καταστημάτων".
  12. ^ a b Σηφάκης Ν., Xατζηιωάννου I., ed. (1922). Πανελλήνιον Λεύκωμα Eθνικής Eκατονταετηρίδος 1821-1921. Αθήνα. pp. 239–243.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ a b Τζώρτζη, Ευγενία (March 9, 2021). "Ποιος ήταν ο πρωτοπόρος τραπεζίτης Γιάννης Κωστόπουλος". kathimerini.
  14. ^ Κωστής, Κώστας; Τσοκόπουλος, Βάσιας. Οι Τράπεζες στην Ελλάδα, 1898-1928. Αθήνα: Ελληνική Ένωση Τραπεζών. p. 169.
  15. ^ Κωστής, Κώστας (2003). Ιστορία της Εθνικής Τράπεζας της Ελλάδος, 1914-1940. Αθήνα: ΜΙΕΤ. p. 421.
  16. ^ Κώστας Κωστής, ed. (2016). Με λογισμό και μ' όνειρο. Alpha Bank, 19ος-21ος αιώνας. Αθήνα: Alpha Bank. pp. 95 96.
  17. ^ Κώστας Κωστής, ed. (2016). Με λογισμό και μ' όνειρο. Alpha Bank, 19ος-21ος αιώνας. Αθήνα: Alpha Bank. pp. 110–111.
  18. ^ a b c "ALPHA Stock Overview". Athens Exchange Group. August 11, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  19. ^ Alkman Granitsas; Stelios Bouras; Nektaria Stamouli. (March 14, 2012). "2nd UPDATE: Greece's Alpha Bank To Call Off Merger With Eurobank". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Fabio Benedetti-Valentini and Elisa Martinuzzi (October 17, 2012). "Credit Agricole Exits Greece Taking Profit Hit on Unit". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012.
  21. ^ "Nine Month 2014 Results: Profit after Τax at Euro 110.5 million". www.londonstockexchange.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  22. ^ "Greek Alpha Bank hits recap target, rights issue oversubscribed- sources". reuters.com. May 31, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  23. ^ "Alpha Bank SA undertakes the deposits of three Cooperative Banks". Reuters. December 8, 2013. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015.
  24. ^ "Alpha Bank buys back in full 940m euro worth of preference shares". marketall.eu. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  25. ^ "3rd Quarter Results". announce.ft.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  26. ^ "Alpha Bank to buy Citi's Greek retail assets". ft.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  27. ^ "Greece's Eurobank, Alpha Bank Ask Central Bank for Emergency Liquidity Assistance". Wall Street Journal. January 16, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  28. ^ McCarthy, Sebastian (November 8, 2019). "National Bank, Eurobank, Alpha Bank, Attica Bank raided in collusion probe". CityAM. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  29. ^ "Turkish regulator blocks bank sale". Financial Times. August 10, 2007. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  30. ^ "Greece's Alpha Bank to buy Ukraine's Astra Bank". Reuters. March 27, 2008. Archived from the original on January 25, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  31. ^ Merge and Acquire Archived December 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The Ukrainian Week (9 October 2015)
  32. ^ "Alpha Finance US Corporation". linkedin.com. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  33. ^ "Alpha Bank va fuziona cu Unicredit și vor crea una dintre cele mai mari bănci din România". October 23, 2023.
  34. ^ "FTSE/Athex Large Cap Index composition". Athens Exchanges Group. August 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.

External links[edit]