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The trademark Eurobank EFG, a symbol of successful Greek banking and financial consultancy development from the pre-crisis period, today has become past history. The financial group of the richest Greek, Spiros Latsis, European Financial Group, better known by its initials EFG, is withdrawing from the third largest Greek bank, Eurobank. The group, which until now held a 44.70% stake in the bank, announced that it will grant 43.55 per cent of the bank's stocks to the nine younger descendants of the legendary Captain Yiannis Latsis and to the charity foundation in his name, John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation. EFG will keep its 1.15 per cent of the stocks.

The Bank and the financial group will also divide up their administrations and management. All members of the bank's Board of Directors, who are also members of the boards of the group, will resign from them, and vice versa - all members of the Board of EFG, who take part in the management of the bank, will do the same. By the end of the day, Eurobank will announce when it will call together its governing board, which will elect new members.

Even a few months ago, the general meeting of the bank's shareholders decided to remove the brand's initials EFG from the trademark Eurobank, but the European Supervisory Authorities demanded both companies to completely separate their activities. Spiros Latsis's efforts to merge the bank with another large private Greek bank, Alpha, have continued for months, but as everybody knows, in the end he didn't succeed. Analysts explain today's move of the businessman with his fears that the Greek banking sector's state may negatively affect the delicate activities in the field of private banking, which EFG exercises its activities in many countries outside Greece.

EFG Group is granting its 43.55 per cent stake in Eurobank to the nine younger heirs of the family, as it will divide it in 9 equal parts. The wealth of the Latsis family has been amassed by the legendary Captain Yiannis Latsis, who with his wife Margarita, have three children Spiros, Marianna and Margarita. In more recent times, this wealth was multiplied by the right moves of financial banker Spiros Latsis (in the picture), which for several years in a row, won him the place of the richest Greek. He is now retiring from the ownership and the management of Eurobank and is granting them to his young nephews.

And who are they? His sister Marianna Latsis has been married twice and has three children - the sons Paris Kasidokostas, who is a film producer, but became famous worldwide for his rapid engagement to Paris Hilton, Filippos Kourkoulos, and the daughter Erietta Kourkoulos. His younger sister, Margarita, is married to banker George Katsiapis, who is the manager of the financial advisory firm EFG Eurofinanciere d΄ Investissements SAM, and they also have three children. Spiros Latsis himself is married to American Dorothy Bradley, lives in Geneva, and keeps his personal life away from the prying eyes of paparazzi.