In accordance with the decision 2/258/5.12.2002 (hereinafter the Decision) of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (hereinafter the CMC), the credit institution styled Alpha Bank A.E. (Reg. no. 6066/06/B/86/05), established and operating, as a societe anonyme, under the laws of Greece, having its registered seat in the Municipality of Athens, at 40, Stadiou Street, GR-102 52 (hereinafter the Offeror) hereby announces that, on 10 March, 2004, the CMC approved the information circular (hereinafter the Information Circular) relating to the voluntary public tender offer (hereinafter the Tender Offer) initiated by the Offeror for the purpose of acquiring the entire number of common registered shares of Alpha Leasing A.E. (hereinafter the Company), each of a par value equal to 2.70 Euros (hereinafter the Shares).

Information Circular

As of 15 March, 2004 and during the Acceptance Period (as defined below), holders of Shares (the Shareholders) may obtain copies of the Information Circular in Greek from all branches in Greece of Proton Investment Bank S.A. (hereinafter the Tender Agent), Alpha Bank and Alpha Finance Investment and Brokerage Services S.A. (hereinafter the Advisor to the Offeror), during normal business days and hours.

Shareholders who require clarifications of the terms or methods of accepting the Tender Offer or who require assistance in completing and submitting the declaration of acceptance (hereinafter the Declaration of Acceptance) should contact the Tender Agent and/or ?Alpha Bank A.E.? acting, on the power of an agreement between the Tender Agent and Alpha Bank A.E., on behalf of the Tender Agent, on (210) 900 5410, 900 5482 (contact Stella Kolokotroni and Kiriakos Athanassopoulos, for the Tender Agent), and on (210) 326 0000 (contact Antonios Makos and Eleni Patroudaki, for Alpha Bank A.E.), during the Acceptance Period (normal business days and hours).

Acceptance Period

The period during which the Shareholders may declare their acceptance of the Tender Offer (hereinafter the Acceptance Period) will start on 18 March, 2004 at 8.00 a.m. (Greek time) and will end on 19 April, 2004 at 14.30 p.m. (Greek time).

Tender Offer Shares

The Tender Offer addresses all Shares which were not held by the Offeror and/or its fully owned subsidiary styled Ionian Holdings A.E., directly or indirectly, as at 27 February, 2004, namely 8,943,436 Shares, which represented 22.59% % of the Company's total paid-up share capital as at that date or which would not be acquired during the term of the Tender Offer (hereinafter the ?Tender Offer Shares').

The Offeror seeks to acquire the Tender Offer Shares together with existing and future rights deriving therefrom, provided that the Tender Offer Shares and such rights are free and clear of all encumbrances, pledges, mortgages, restrictions, liens, charges or other third party rights.

The Tender Offer shall remain effective irrespective of the number of Tender Offer Shares that will have been validly tendered by the end of the Acceptance Period. This means that there is no minimum number of Tender Offer Shares that the Offeror should acquire to maintain the effectiveness of the Tender Offer. From March 2, 2004, the Offeror, after due notification of purchases, has acquired shares of the Company through the Athens Exchange, and will continue to do so throughout the Acceptance Period, at a price which will not exceed Euro 6,50 per share. Provided the Offeror has acquired, directly or indirectly, a number of voting rights equal to, or greater of, 95% of the aggregate Company voting rights, it shall cause a convocation of the General Meeting of shareholders of the Company and it shall vote with its entire holding in favour of a motion to apply to the CMC, as per art. 11(3) of presidential decree 350/1985, to have the Shares de-listed from the Athens Exchange. It is noted that sale of Shares, after the potential delisting of the Shares from t he Athens Exchange, may be subject, depending on the tax residence of the seller, to an income tax, in accordance with article 13, paragraph 2 of Greek Law 2238/1994, payable by the seller.

Offer Price

The Offeror offers to pay 6.50 Euro in cash for each Tender Offer Share for which the Tender Offer is validly accepted (the Offer Price). The charge, for the account of the Central Securities Depository (hereinafter the CSD), under Art. 110 of the Settlement Regulation, at the rate of 0.06% on the higher of EUR 6.50 and the closing price of the Shares in the Athens Exchange for the day immediately before the date when the Tender Agent files with the CSD the documents required for the off-exchange transfer of the Tender Offer Shares validly tendered, in each case multiplied by the number of the Tender Offer Shares validly tendered, and any other tax, duty or encumbrance which may be imposed and is payable by Accepting Shareholders under the law will be deducted from the Offer Price.

Acceptance Process

Accepting Shareholders must duly complete and submit a Declaration of Acceptance to any of the branches of the Tender Agent or Alpha Bank A.E. acting, on the power of an agreement between the Tender Agent and ?Alpha Bank A.E., on behalf of the Tender Agent, in Greece. Forms of the Declaration of Acceptance may be obtained from these branches throughout the Acceptance Period during normal business days and hours. Accepting Shareholders must comply with the detailed requirements for accepting the Tender O ffer set out in section 2.15 of the Information Circular.

Alternatively, accepting Shareholders may submit a Declaration of Acceptance through a proxy and for this purpose they should observe the process set forth in section 2.15 of the Information Circular.

Moreover, accepting Shareholders may duly authorize the operator of the securities account that they maintain with the Greek dematerialised securities system (hereinafter the SAT) to proceed with all necessary actions on their behalf to accept the Tender Offer. This is merely information given by the Offeror and does not constitute a recommendation.

Payment of the Offer Price

The transfer of the Tender Offer Shares validly tendered by accepting Shareholders, will take place through an off-exchange transaction in accordance with Article 15 of Greek Law 3632/1928 and will be registered with SAT on the third business day after the required documentation is submitted to the Greek Central Securities Depository by the Tender Agent.

At the latest on the sixth business day after the end of the Acceptance Period, Alpha Bank shall pay the Offer Price to accepting Shareholders in the manner that each accepting Shareholder has indicated in the Declaration of Acceptance. Important Notice This Tender Offer is governed by the provisions of the CMC Decision and is exclusively addressed to Company shareholders capable of lawfully accepting it.

The Tender Offer is not, and it shall not be, directly or indirectly, conducted in countries where the same is prohibited or is rendered subject to restrictions, including, but not limited, to the United States of America, Canada, Australia and Japan. Copies of this document and any other related material are not, and shall not, be, be mailed, dispatched or otherwise distributed into countries where the same is prohibited or rendered subject to restrictions.

This announcement is published in accordance with art. 11(1) of the CMC Decision and should be read in conjunction with the Information Circular.