Athens Stock Exchange announces the following changes in trading hours. With effect from Monday 24 September, trading hours will be between 12:00 and 18:00 local Athens time. The Athens Derivatives Exchange will operate between 11:30 and 18:15 local Athens time. The decision to change trading hours was due to the highly volatile prices experienced in international markets in the past week.

At the same time, the Athens Stock exchange will be continuing consultations with market participants about further harmonization of trading hours with those of other European and international stock exchanges.

Capital markets are seriously affected by a particularly significant event. In the postwar period a number of similar events have occurred: The reduction in oil production in 1973, the financial market crisis in 1987, the Gulf war in 1990, the Asian markets crisis in 1997. The impact of these events were overcome through the combined efforts of capital market and fiscal authorities and governments helped by the recovery of international economies. For the same reasons it is expected that in due course capital markets will return to their normal pattern of activity. The experience has shown that investors and market participants are well-advised to respond calmly, maintain a long-term perspective, and avoid hastily considered action.