LONDON (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) November 2, 2001--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its long-term triple-'B'-plus and short-term 'A-2' counterparty credit ratings on National Bank of Greece S.A. (NBG) and Alpha Bank A.E. (Alpha). The outlooks on both institutions remain stable. The affirmations are in response to yesterday's announcement that the two largest banking groups in Greece have agreed to merge. Both NBG and Alpha are required to submit the merger proposals to their respective general assemblies within the next 20 days. In addition, the merger is subject to the appropriate clearance from both domestic and EU authorities. When the merger is completed, the combined group assets will reach €80 billion, ranking it among the top 50 European banking groups. Top
