At the General Meeting of Shareholders of Alpha Credit Bank convened today, to decide upon postponed items of the Ordinary General Meeting, the following were approved:· the merger of the Ionian Bank, through its absorption by Alpha Credit Bank, · the expansion of the Bank, until the year 2100, · the issuance of bond up to the amount of Euro 3 billion, and · a stock options scheme for Executives of the Bank.The legal procedure for the merger will be completed with the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Ionian Bank on April 18, 2000 and the consequent approvals of the competent authorities.At the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, on May 22, 2000, the Board of Directors will propose the free distribution of shares at the ratio of one share for every two old shares, resulting from the share capital increase due to the merger.