Arab Hellenic Bank

The Arab Hellenic Bank was an internationally owned bank based in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In 1978, in advance of the founding of the bank, the Greek government granted an exemption to its usual prohibition on foreign banks owning more than 40 per cent of the equity of a Greek bank. This permitted several

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

banks to establish Arab-Hellenic Bank with 49 per cent Arab ownership. The bank was founded in 1979, with

Vassilis Sarantitis Vassilios or Vassileios, also transliterated Vasileios, Vasilios, Vassilis or Vasilis ( el, Βασίλειος or Βασίλης), is a Greek given name, the origin of Basil. In ancient/medieval/Byzantine context, it is also transliterated as Basile ...

, an influential lawyer and for many years chairman of the Arab-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, as one of the founders. Ownership was 51%

National Bank of Greece The National Bank of Greece (NBG; el, Εθνική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος) is a global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. 85% of the company's pretax preprovision profits are derived ...

, 20%

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Investment Office, 20%

Libyan Arab Foreign Bank Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB) was established in 1972 in Tripoli, Libya as Libyan Arab Foreign Bank; it was renamed Libyan Foreign Bank in 2005. It was Libya's first offshore banking institution licensed to operate internationally. The Central Bank o ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n institution), and 9% other Arab investors. As the bank was undercapitalized and the central bank of the country demanded serious capital increase, in 1993 the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank proposed a cash infusion that would take its ownership to 72%, given the other shareholders' reluctance to participate. The plan was to take advantage of the EU "single passport" rules, which would permit Arab Hellenic to open branches in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and elsewhere in the EU, while subject only to Bank of Greece supervision. The UK and US governments protested strongly and blocked the move. In 1994 the Greek government dissolved the insolvent Arab Hellenic Bank at a cost to Greece's Deposit Guarantee Fund of Euro 1.5m in payments to depositors. Defunct banks of Greece Banks established in 1979 Banks disestablished in 1995 1995 disestablishments in Greece Greek companies established in 1979 {{Greece-company-stub