Bank of Greece

This article is about the central bank of Greece. For the largest commercial bank in Greece, see National Bank of Greece.

Coordinates: 37°58′43″N 23°44′0″E / 37.97861°N 23.73333°E / 37.97861; 23.73333

Bank of Greece
Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος
Headquarters Athens
Established 1927
Governor Yannis Stournaras
Central bank of Greece
Preceded by National Bank of Greece (1928)
Succeeded by European Central Bank (2001)1
Website Official website
1 The Bank of Greece still exists but many functions have been taken over by the ECB.

The Bank of Greece (Greek: Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος, abbreviated ΤτΕ) is the central bank of Greece. Its headquarters is located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, but it also has several branches across the country. It was founded in 1927 and its operations started officially in 1928. The building that houses it headquarters until this day was completed ten years later, in 1938.[1]

The Bank of Greece is listed on the Athens Exchange.[2]

Introduction

The Bank of Greece, a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), is the national central bank of Greece and was established by Law 3424/7 December 1927. The shares of the Bank of Greece are registered and have been listed on the Athens Exchange since 12 June 1930.

It is a partially state owned S.A. share company with special privileges, with special restrictions and duties.[3] It cannot operate as a commercial bank and the percentage of shares that can be under Greek state ownership cannot exceed 35%.[4] It has a staff of more than 3,000 employees.

The primary objective of the Bank of Greece is to ensure price stability in Greece. It also supervises the private banks and acts as a treasurer and fiscal agent for the Greek government. After law 3867/2010 was passed, the Bank of Greece is also responsible for supervising private insurance companies, merging in the Committee for the Supervision of Insurance Companies established by law 3229/2004.

Its Euro banknotes printer identification code is Y.[5]

Bank of Greece also sells gold sovereigns.

Governor

The main entrance to the Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens. The inscription reads "ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ", meaning "BANK OF GREECE".
Bank of Greece inscription close-up

The chief officer of the Bank of Greece is the Governor (Greek: διοικητής, IPA: [ðiiciˈtis]), a governmental appointee.[6]

List of Governors of the Bank of Greece

Officeholder Entered office Left office Notes
Alexandros Diomidis April 21, 1928 September 29, 1931 Prime Minister 1949–50
Emmanouil Tsouderos October 31, 1931 August 13, 1935 First term
Emmanouil Tsouderos March 20, 1936 July 10, 1939 Second term; Prime Minister 1941–44 (in exile)
Ioannis Drosopoulos July 10, 1939 July 28, 1939
Kyriakos Varvaresosa August 4, 1939 February 2, 1946
Xenophon Zolotas October 12, 1944 January 8, 1945 First term; co-Governor
Georgios Mantzavinos February 11, 1946 February 2, 1955
Xenophon Zolotas February 5, 1955 August 7, 1967 Second term
Dimitrios Galanis August 7, 1967 May 4, 1973
Konstantinos Papagiannis May 7, 1973 August 9, 1974
Panagis Papaligouras August 9, 1974 October 24, 1974
Xenophon Zolotas November 26, 1974 November 3, 1981 Third term; Prime Minister 1989–90
Gerasimos Arsenis November 3, 1981 February 20, 1984
Dimitrios Chalikias February 20, 1984 February 20, 1992
Efthymios Christodoulou February 20, 1992 December 1, 1993
Ioannis Boutos December 1, 1993 October 26, 1994
Lucas Papademos October 26, 1994 June 14, 2002 Prime Minister 2011–12
Nikolaos Garganas June 14, 2002 June 14, 2008 Greek Financial Audit, 2004
Georgios Provopoulos June 20, 2008 June 20, 2014 Greek government-debt crisis; European debt crisis
Yannis Stournaras 20 June 2014 Incumbent Greek government-debt crisis; European debt crisis

a During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–44), Governor Kyriakos Varvaresos followed the Greek government in exile to London. The collaborationist governments in Greece fired Varvaresos in 1941 and appointed first Miltiadis Negrepontis as Governing Counsellor (April 24, 1941 – July 3, 1941) and then Dimitrios Santis (July 3, 1941 – January 20, 1943) and Theodoros Tourkovasilis (April 19, 1943 – April 13, 1944) as Governors. Nevertheless, after the liberation, all dismissals and appointments by occupation-era governments concerning members of the administration of the Bank of Greece were declared null and void.

Deputy Governors

The deputy governor (Greek: υποδιοικητής, ypodioikētés) is the Bank's second-in-line officer. Traditionally, the Deputy Governors' main remit is administration, whereas Governors supervise monetary policy at large.[7]

The Bank of Greece branch in Greece's second city Thessaloniki.
The Bank of Greece branch on the island of Rhodes.

(*): During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–44), Deputy Governor Georgios Mantzavinos followed the Greek government in exile to London. The collaborationist governments in Greece fired Mantzavinos in 1941 and appointed Andreas Papadimitriou (July 3, 1941 – November 18, 1941) and Spyridon Hatzikyriakos (April 5, 1943 – October 5, 1944) as Deputy Governors. Nevertheless, after the liberation, all dismissals and appointments by occupation-era governments concerning members of the administration of the Bank of Greece were declared null and void.

See also

General:

References

  1. "Bank of Greece (en) - Contemporary Monuments Database". National Hellenic Research Foundation. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  2. Athex: TELL
  3. Bank of Greece articles of association, Edition Θ, 2000 Chapter Χ, «ΕΡΓΑΣΙΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΣΑ ΝΟΜΙΣΜΑΤΙΚΗΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗΣ» (Retrieved 31/03/2011)
  4. Bank of Greece articles of association, Edition Θ, 2000, Chapter ΙΙ, Article 8, «ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟ ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟΘΕΜΑΤΙΚΑ» (Retrieved 31/03/2011).
  5. "Euro FAQ". The Euro Information Website. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  6. Governors of the Bank of Greece
  7. Deputy Governors of the Bank of Greece

Hellenic Parliament June 2015 Page 22

External links

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