"Night of the long knives" between Alpha Bank and National Bank

A “night of the long knives” has begun between National Bank and Alpha Bank, following the latter’s announcement of the 5.1% buying stake bid from Morgan Stanley.

Administrative circles of Alpha Bank argued that the National Bank is behind the opening of a foreign investment such as this, noting that:

1)   Morgan Stanley was the National Bank advisor for the February 18 proposal
2)   The company acted of its own accord without informing the National Bank administration

On the other hand, the National Bank has categorically denied that it has any connection with Morgan Stanley

A few hours ago, statements made by senior executives of Alpha Bank to the Financial Times had preceded this event, mentioning that the deal was dead, and that the requirement of Alpha Bank’s major stockholders (Fidelity - Blackrock - Qatar), was that the merger not go through.

The National Bank’s calm response

At noon, the director general of National Bank Mr. Anthimos Thomopoulos made statements to Reuters, insisting that the bank is focusing on only purely friendly approaches and that he has nothing to do with Morgan Stanley’s move.

Executives stressed that National Bank does not seek recriminations, and described Alpha Bank’s statements as incomprehensible.

In fact, as National Bank’s senior members stressed, Alpha Bank’s statements were characterized by nervousness and were an indicator of internal turbulence.

Alpha Bank: National Bank’s tactics lead nowhere.

On its part, an Alpha Bank executive who spoke to protothema.gr, noted that “we do not understand where National Bank’s tactics lead. Are we expected to believe that Morgan Stanley has no connection to the National Bank?” As he added, the practice of manipulation shows that the National Bank wants to keep this issue in the news.