Athens, 22 April 2013

Press Release

Eurobank's Board of Directors (BoD) convened today, 22 April 2013, and examined, with the assistance of its international advisors Barclays Bank Plc, acting through its investment bank and Deutsche Bank, the conditions and facts pertaining to the effort of attracting capital from private investors.  The BoD evaluated the specificities of the exercise and, in particular, the uncertainty regarding the completion or not of the merger with National Bank of Greece (NBG), and the ensuing inability of properly assessing the investment proposal, as well as the absence of tens of thousands of Eurobank's traditional shareholders who were substituted, due to the recent Voluntary Tender Offer, by NBG's stake of approximately 85% in the Bank's capital.  As a consequence, the BoD decided to propose to the forthcoming General Meeting on April 30 that the share capital increase of €5.8bn be fully subscribed by the HFSF, leading to the immediate and full recapitalization of the Bank.  As such, Eurobank will become the first fully recapitalized systemic bank, as early as next week.

Based on this decision, Eurobank takes a responsible stance towards its shareholders and potential investors and lays the foundations to restore its ability to finance the Greek economy, strengthening the trust of its customers, employees and Greek society in general.

The BoD also discussed the immediate prospects for the restructuring of the Greek banking system. As one of the four systemic banks, Eurobank intends to actively engage in the strategic restructuring of the Greek banking system through the integration of smaller non-systemic banks.

Furthermore, if the relevant authorities finally decide not to conclude the merger with NBG, Eurobank will submit, as required, a comprehensive business plan aiming to attract private and institutional investors from Greece and abroad as soon as possible, according to the provisions of the current legal framework. The objective will be to further enhance the Bank's capital, align the Bank to the new circumstances and requirements of the domestic and international markets, as well as preserve and increase corporate value to the benefit of the Greek economy.

In all the efforts described above, our personnel, which has always been the strongest supporter of the Bank's strategic initiatives, will once more prove instrumental.

The overriding aim of the decisions taken is to preserve the Bank's private identity, and in so doing restore its ability to support Greek households and enterprises at this dire economic juncture, to broaden its access to international markets and to carry on financing the Greek economy in its efforts to return to positive growth.