This is the first transformation of a cooperative bank into société anonyme in Greece and marks a new era for the bank, established in 1994 as a cooperative credit institution focusing on Crete’s local economy and grown steadily over the years into a dynamic banking player which now enters the universe of full scope commercial banks in Greece. The project was challenging not only on account of the novelty of the process but predominantly because of the transition of the legal framework applicable to the transaction from cooperatives to société anonymes regulatory provisions and from pre-Covid-19 to post-Covid-19 corporate governance provisions.
Our team was led by Christina Papanikolopoulou (Partner, Head of the Finance & Capital Markets practice group) and Kitty Fragalexi (Of Counsel) and our work covered all aspects of the transaction including banking regulatory, corporate and operational implementation.