Alpha Bank

Alpha Bank is the second largest bank in Greece with 450 branches throughout the country. It also has a subsidiary in London and branches and subsidiaries throughout the Balkans (see "International expansion" below).

History

In 1879 John F. Costopoulos established a small commercial firm in the city of Kalamata.
In 1918 the banking department of the "J.F. Costopoulos" firm changed its name to Bank of Kalamata.
In 1924 the bank moved its headquarters to Athens and changed its name to Banque de Credit Commercial Hellenique.
In 1947 the bank changed its name to the Commercial Credit Bank (CCB).
In 1972 the CCB changed its name to Credit Bank (Trapeza Pisteos).
In 1994 Credit Bank changed its name to Alpha Credit Bank (ACB).
In 1999 ACB acquired 51% of the shares of the Ionian and Popular Bank.
In 2000 ACB absorbed the Ionian and Popular Bank. In the same year ACB changed its name to Alpha Bank.
In 2002 Alpha Bank attempted merger with National Bank of Greece fell through.

International expansion

In 1960 Commercial Credit Bank established a subsidiary in Cyprus that it may later have closed or sold.

In the early 1990s, the bank started on a program of international expansion, especially in the Balkans.

In 1993 Credit Bank and the EBRD established "Banca Bucureşti" in Romania, which commenced operations the next year. Credit Bank owned about 50% of the bank.
In 1994 ACB acquired Commercial Bank of London (from Commercial Bank of Greece) and renamed it Alpha Credit Bank London.
In 1996 ACB established a branch in Tirana, Albania, and followed that with three more branches.
In 1997 ACB established Alpha Credit Bank Jersey to promote private banking services.
In 1998 ACB acquired 82.5% of Lombard NatWest Bank in Cyprus and renamed it Alpha Bank Ltd.
In 1999 ACB acquired 65% of Kreditna Banka, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. It now owns 84%.
In 2000 "Banca Bucureşti" changed its name to "Alpha Bank Romania" (ABR). Monte dei Paschi di Siena took a 5% share of the bank. Alpha Bank’s share became 63%. ABR itself acquired a 12.5% stake in Victoria Bank (est. 1989), the largest private bank in Moldavia.
Alpha Bank also has three branches in Serbia and Montenegro and a branch in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Website

Alpha Bank's homepage

Alpha Bank

History

Website

See Also