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Large shifts in the Greek banking landscape may occur in the coming hours when Alpha Bank is expected to confirm or deny rumours of buying Emporiki Bank. Alpha Bank is obliged to do so because it is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. A bank representative has just denied the transaction.
     Meetings between representatives of the two financial institutions for the sale of some branches and loan portfolios have already been held. Anyway, it has been known that the French Credit Agricole, which owns Emporiki Bank, has been seeking for a long time to escape the Greek market. The bank has been present in Greece for 12 years now and since 2000, it has suffered losses amounting to 10 billion euro. Only last year, its presence in the Greek market caused it damages totalling 2.3 billion euro.
     It is no coincidence that Credit Agricole bought all subsidiaries of Emporiki Bank in the Balkan countries last week and separated its Greek investment.