Marfin Popular Bank Public Co Ltd announces that it has been invited by the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition to attend a hearing on 12.6.2007, where the procedure for the examination of a potential violation of the Law on Control of Concentrations between Undertakings through the acquisition of a minority stake of 8.07% in Bank of Cyprus will be determined. On the basis of current legislation and common sense Marfin Popular Bank does not accept any alleged violation of the provisions of the aforementioned Law. It is obvious that this acquisition does not constitute a controlling stake and thus a concentration, just like in the case of Bank of Piraeus who transferred the said stake to our Bank. The Republic of Cyprus is a Member State of the European Union and any decision of the Commission for the Protection of Competition will be subject to legal remedies before the Cypriot and the European courts.