Piraeus Bank Announces Appointment of New Chairman and Board Members

Athens (ots/PRNewswire) -

At today's meeting, Piraeus Bank's Board of Directors elected
Messrs George Handjinicolaou, Solomon Berahas and Enrico Tommaso
Cucchiani as new non executive members of the BoD to replace members
previously resigned. The Board then proceeded to unanimously approve
the appointment of Mr George Handjinicolaou as its new Chairman. Mr
Handjinicolaou starts his role immediately.

Mr Handjinicolaou is a highly experienced international business
leader in the financial services sector. His career spans 33 years,
the vast majority of which was spent at global financial institutions
based in London and New York and the International Swaps and
Derivatives Association (ISDA) in London.

Mr Handjinicolaou was most recently Deputy CEO of ISDA, where he
was a member of the Board of Directors. He previously held senior
management positions in the derivatives and fixed income markets at
several global financial institutions including Dresdner Kleinwort
Benson, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS in London and New York.
Mr Handjinicolaou started his career at the World Bank in Washington,
DC. Mr Handjinicolaou also has leadership experience in Greece from
his roles as CEO of TBANK and as Vice Chairman of the Greek Capital
Market Commission.

Mr Handjinicolaou's extensive international leadership experience,
deep understanding of global capital markets combined with experience
in restructuring within the Greek banking sector will be of
significant value to Piraeus Bank's Board of Directors.

Mr. Handjinicolaou received his PhD in Finance from the graduate
school of business at New York University, where he also earned his
MBA. He holds a BS degree from the Law School at the University of
Athens in Athens, Greece.

Piraeus Bank's appointment of Mr Handjinicolaou marks another
major step in the strengthening of the Bank's Board of Directors and
its corporate governance, which builds on significant progress made
during 2016. During the course of this year the Board has added
international leadership experience and technical expertise, in
particular in restructurings and problem loan reduction, combining
this with deep local market experience.

Mr Handjinicolaou's appointment is the seventh new non-executive
appointment to Piraeus Bank's Board of Directors in 2016:

- Mr Solomon Berahas (Non-Executive Board Member) - Senior risk
adviser with 33 years' experience. CEO of Teiresias
S.A.
- Mr Arne Berggren (Chairman of the Nominations and Remuneration
Committees) - Bank restructuring specialist with over 25 years'
experience in 20
countries. Former IMF Senior Adviser and head of restructurings
at
Swedbank
- Mr Alexander Blades (Non-Executive Board Member) - Partner at
Paulson & Co Inc. the New York headquartered asset
manager and Piraeus Bank's largest private shareholder
- Mr Enrico Cucchiani (Non Executive Board Member) - Former CEO of
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank
- Mr Karel DeBoeck (Chairman of the Risk Committee) - Former CEO of
Belgian banks Dexia and Fortis
- Mr David Hexter (Chairman of the Audit Committee) - Bank and
corporate restructuring specialist, former Head of
Financial Institutions at the European Bank for Reconstruction
and
Development

Mr Arne Berggren, Independent Non-Executive Member of Piraeus
Bank's Board of Directors and Chairman of the Nominations Committee,
said:

"On behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to congratulate
Mr Handjinicolaou and to welcome him to Piraeus Bank. George's
extensive international leadership experience, deep expertise in
global financial markets combined with his understanding of the Greek
market will be invaluable to the success of Piraeus' restructuring
plan. This is another major milestone for Piraeus Bank to build a
strong Board with the combined experience to tackle the Bank´s
challenges effectively and to ensure that the Bank is well positioned
to meet the highest standards of corporate governance."

Mr George Handjinicolaou, newly appointed Chairman of Piraeus
Bank, commented:

"I am excited by the opportunity to use the experience and
expertise that I have accumulated during my career to contribute to
the turnaround of Piraeus Bank. Greece is currently at a critical
juncture, and it is an honour to lead Greece's largest bank. Also,
having benefited from Greece's public education system, this role
provides me with an opportunity to give back to my country.

Piraeus Bank has responded effectively to an extremely challenging
operating environment and I believe that there are significant
opportunities for the Bank to build upon our trusted and valued
customer brand, to support economic recovery in Greece and to deliver
value for our shareholders over the medium term. I look forward to
being part of Piraeus Bank's success, alongside a strengthened Board,
a reinvigorated executive team and all of our loyal and committed
employees."

Nick Tesseyman, EBRD Managing Director, Financial Institutions,
said:

"We are pleased that Piraeus Bank now has a strong board with
several new members, including the Chairman, who bring international
experience and a new outlook to help steer Greece's largest bank on
its road to recovery. High standards of corporate governance are
important and we are confident that the newly composed board will
ensure that this is adhered to. This is all the more important as we
are seeing encouraging signs indicating that the Greek economy is
starting to grow again. In this moment it is crucial to have a
well-functioning banking sector with the ability to support the real
economy on a sustainable basis. With the recent developments we are
confident that Piraeus Bank will be well placed to perform this
task."

ots Originaltext: Piraeus Bank
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Karen Le Cannu Mobile +44 (0)7872 602 777
karen.lecannu@powerscourt-group.com Alexandra Rowbottom Direct +44 (0)
20 3328 9384 Mobile +44 (0)7734 568 590
alex.rowbottom@powerscourt-group.com

Original-Content von: Piraeus Bank, übermittelt durch news aktuell