Greece

Alpha Bank has launched on November 11 a share sale to raise €1.66bn, as part of its €2.74bn capital strengthening plan, to address capital weakness discovered in recent EU stress tests.

Alpha Bank has launched a €1.6bn share offer, looking to build on new equity created from a debt exchange as it tries to fill a near €3bn capital hole with private funds.

Political risk appeared to be influencing investors’ decision making on Monday, as a trio of eurozone periphery sovereigns underperformed their peers in secondaries. But there was better news for Cyprus, which more than halved its one month borrowing costs at an auction.

Greek banks will have to address a €14.4bn capital shortfall as part of plans to strengthen the viability of the country’s banking system, said the European Central Bank on October 31.

Greek banks will have to address a €14.4bn capital shortfall as part of ongoing plans to strengthen the viability of the country’s banking system, said the European Central Bank on Saturday.

Greece’s yields screamed lower on Monday despite reports that the country’s creditors are unhappy with its government’s reform efforts. Meanwhile, Cyprus could bring a bond after completing a roadshow last week.

Standard and Poor’s downgraded Piraeus Bank’s outlook from “selective default” to “default” on Monday, adding to the difficulties facing Greek banks.

The European Central Bank has beaten a case against it by a group of Italian investors claiming damages over the 2012 restructuring of Greek debt.

The Bank of Cyprus has got one step closer to issuing its first covered bond benchmark since being recapitalised. The conditional pass through programme got an investment grade rating from Moody’s, which for the first time took a fully de-linked approach.

Cyprus slashed nearly 15% from its three month borrowing costs at an auction on Friday. Meanwhile, Greece announced plans for a sale of six month paper.

The world needs a strong, stable eurozone. And that requires a strong, stable Greece. The talks necessary to make that a reality must not be placed on hold while Europe’s leaders fret and argue over the growing refugee crisis. Europe will only be a true source of hope to the needy outside its borders when it engenders faith from those within.

Italy shunted just over €2bn of redemptions due over the next three years into the next decade, as Portugal sliced several basis points from its short term borrowing costs.