3 August, AtoZForex.com, Lagos – The latest news from Greece, though slightly to the positive this time is that the stock market is set to reopen today, after closure for over a month during the heat of the country’s crisis. Banks were also closed for about three weeks in observation of capital controls, but have already reopened for operations.
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in conjunction with the Hellenic Republic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) took these necessary steps to protect the financial market operation, which could have potentially lead to a worsening situation with the country’s finances. Following the announcement of the bank holidays, the HCMC declared the suspension trading activities of all the securities of listed companies on the Greek capital market as well as the related financial instruments,
In accordance with the decision made by the authorities on Monday 29 June 2015 to implement a bank holiday, other financial sectors applying to this rule include:
- The ATHEX regulated market and the Multilateral Trading Facility of “EN.A” (Alternative Market of the Athens Exchange)
- The Electronic Secondary Market “HDAT”, for government bonds operated by the Bank of Greece
- The suspension of redemption of mutual funds’ units during the above period,
- The suspension of the settlement of securities traded on the Greek market by the Hellenic Central Securities Depository (CSD).
On Friday, Costas Botopoulos, head of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission confirmed on CNBC that the exchange is set to reopen on Monday, August 3. In followup, the Greek government also issued a ministerial decree authorizing the stock exchange to reopen at the beginning of next week -- however with restrictions for domestic investors, Reuters reported.
The Greece stock market reopens today, when operations were halted, the stock market closed at 797.52, 30 percent down over the year and just 15 percent of the 5,178.83 it was worth at the end of 2007, before the country’s financial crisis erupted. It will now be a chance to see how much capital has evaded the country, as we watch to see how much capital Greek banks are left with, as trading resumes and the stock market stabilizes.
After Greece's request for new bailout funds from the IMF, last week, the fund stated that Athens’ high debt levels and current record of implementing reforms disqualify it from a third bailout.