Founded 2010 | ||
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Subsidiaries Alpha Bank, Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, Asset Management Arm, Sato office and Houseware supplies SA | ||
The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (Greek: Ταμείο Χρηματοπιστωτικής Σταθερότητας), or HFSF is a Greek special purpose vehicle created to help stabilizing the Greek banking sector inmidst the Greek government-debt crisis.
Contents
Formation
Based in Athens, the HFSF was founded in July 2010 under Law 3864/2010 as a state-owned private legal entity with the purpose to "contribute to the maintenance of the stability of the Greek banking system, for the sake of public interest." It began its operation on 30 September 2010 with the appointment of the members of the fund's Board of Directors.
The fund has been seeded by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) with 50 billion euros to recapitalize Greece's banks.
Management
Originally governed by a Board of Directors, on 30 January 2013, the fund's management was reorganized into a two-tier management structure, consisting of the General Council and the Executive Board. While Anastasia Sakellariou was appointed Managing Director, or CEO, as part of the Executive Board, Paul Koster became Chairman of the General Council. Koster however resigned on 15 March 2013 and was replaced by Christos Sclavounis.
Following the January 2015 legislative election, the new SYRIZA government was expected to replace Sclavounis by Panagiotis Roumeliotis, while Sakellariou would remain Managing Director. Shortly thereafter, Sclavounis indeed resigned from his office as Chairman.
Operations
In spring 2013, the HFSF together with the Bank of Greece led the merger of ten Greek banks into four "systemic" banks.
By early 2015, the HFSF kept a remaining buffer of 11 billion euros in EFSF bonds that the outgoing Greek government had intended to repurpose as a precautionary credit line. In February 2015, the new, SYRIZA-led administration negotiated with the Troika over a six-month extension of the Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement. The administration proposed repurposing the remaining funds for Keynesian anti-cyclical investments in the non-banking economic sector. The Eurogroup however insisted that the remaining buffer "can only be used for bank recapitalisation and resolution costs."
In 2014 HFSF had a representative (Independent Non-Executive Member) in the board of directors of National Bank of Greece.
HFSF has a representative (non-executive member) in the board of directors of Alpha Bank (12 May 2015); this representative is a member of the Risk Management Committee of the bank, the Audit Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee.
HFSF has a representative (non-executive director) in the board of directors of the bank Eurobank Ergasias (13 May 2015).
HFSF has a representative in the board of directors of Piraeus Bank (2015).