Branch offices of Greek banks in the Balkans endangered?

Millions of people in Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania have deposits in local banks owned by Greece which could be in problems if serious banking crisis occurs in Greece, Reuters reports.

In Serbia, four Greek banks (Apha bank, Eurobank EFG, Piraeus and Vojvodjanska banka) hold assets totaling four billion dollars, i.e. 14% of total banking assets.

In written answers to Reuters, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) said it has been carefully monitoring business of four Greek banks, their liquidity first of all, relations with mother groups and events at the international market connected to Greek banks and their branch offices.

NBS states that in daily reports which banks submit, no outflow of funds or deposits have been recorded. NBS mentions that subsidiaries of Greek banks in Serbia are not classical branch offices but separated legal entities and that there are strict regulations which limit capital transfer from these banks into mother banks.