Credit Agricole Already Owns Directly Emporiki Bank Bulgaria

A man uses the ATM of an Emporiki Bank in Athens on 23 September 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES

French bank Credit Agricole has officially taken control of the Bulgarian assets of its Greek subsidiary Emporiki Bank.

The transfer of all 83 876 135 shares took place last week, data of Bulgaria's Central Depository shows.

Now that the procedure is complete, the Bulgarian unit of Emporiki Bank has direct access to funding from the French bank and will adopt the name Credit Agricole with its trademark and logo.

French bank Credit Agricole announced in the middle of June it has taken control of assets in Albania, Romania and Bulgaria of its Greek subsidiary Emporiki Bank amid concerns over a possible Greek euro exit.

"This intra-group transaction is the last step of a process developed since the beginning of 2009 to reinforce links between Credit Agricole SA and Emporiki Group's subsidiaries," Emporiki said in a statement.

"This agreement will also allow Emporiki to further rationalize its corporate structure and reinforce its focused efforts to effectively deal with the current circumstances and challenges."

The deal was subject to approval from the relevant central banks.

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