Greece

Talks with the Greek government over the program review for last year’s bailout have stuck to policy changes which the embattled country can make, with “very limited, if any” discussion of debt relief, according to the IMF’s deputy managing director for Europe Poul Thomsen.

Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is meeting investors for what would be its first syndicated dollar benchmark trade.

The recent disclosure by Wikileaks of a conversation between three senior directors at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised the uncomfortable topic of the Greek debt crisis, which shows few signs of abating. The conversations suggested political tensions in the European Union will get worse, not better.

Eurobank has issued its first covered bond in the private market after recently updating its prospectus. With two other major Greek banks having conducted similar exercises, the road to their rehabilitation in the capital market has become more established, despite rating downgrades.

With some of the lowest fertility rates on earth, Europe's periphery nations will struggle to maintain extensive social security obligations, as a shrinking number of workers shoulder the fiscal burden.

Repeats of the Greek government’s stand-off with its international creditors last year could be avoided by giving the European Parliament the “last word” when members of the eurozone are in conflict with its institutions, according to one of the currency bloc’s founding fathers.

Aegean Oil Terminal Corp, a Greek oil rig construction firm, has signed a $120m loan with four Gulf banks.

The European Stability Mechanism said it would disburse €2.72bn to recapitalise Piraeus Bank on Monday, drawing upon the €10bn in funds earmarked for the Greek recovery for the first time.

OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, returned to the bond market on Tuesday with a €350m four year at a yield of just 4.625%, despite high yield bankers saying the mood in the market was still unstable.

It may be late November, but equity capital markets are still busy with a stack of high profile deals, even now that last week's four Greek bank recapitalisations are out of the way. Abengoa's rights issue now looks unlikely to go ahead, as the company's woes have deepened.

OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, held an investor call on Tuesday November 24 for what could be the first Greek corporate bond issue in euros this year.

Market participants expressed relief on Thursday at the likely success of at least three of four capital raises being executed by Greece’s largest banks this week, after days of arduous bookbuilding. Olivier Holmey reports.