Bank of Greece


The Bank of Greece is the central bank of Greece. Its headquarters is located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, but it also has several branches across the country. It was founded in 1927 and its operations started officially in 1928. The building that currently houses its headquarters was completed ten years later in 1938.
The Bank of Greece is listed on the Athens Exchange.

Introduction

The Bank of Greece, a member of the European System of Central Banks, is the national central bank of Greece and was established by Law 3424/7 December 1927. The shares of the Bank of Greece are registered and have been listed on the Athens Exchange since June 12, 1930.
It is a partially state owned S.A. share company with special privileges, special restrictions, and duties. It cannot operate as a commercial bank and the percentage of shares that can be under Greek state ownership cannot exceed 35%. It has a staff of more than 1,800 employees.
The primary objective of the Bank of Greece is to ensure price stability in Greece. It also supervises the private banks and acts as a treasurer and fiscal agent for the Greek government. Since law 3867/2010 was passed the Bank of Greece is also responsible for supervising private insurance companies, merging with the Committee for the Supervision of Insurance Companies established by law 3229/2004.
Its Euro banknotes printer identification code is Y.
The Bank of Greece also sells gold sovereigns.

Governor

The chief officer of the Bank of Greece is the Governor, a governmental appointee.

List of Governors of the Bank of Greece

OfficeholderEntered officeLeft officeNotes
Alexandros DiomidisApril 21, 1928September 29, 1931Prime Minister 1949–50
Emmanouil TsouderosOctober 31, 1931August 13, 1935First term
Emmanouil TsouderosMarch 20, 1936July 10, 1939Second term; Prime Minister 1941–44
Ioannis DrosopoulosJuly 10, 1939July 28, 1939
Kyriakos VarvaresosaAugust 4, 1939February 2, 1946
Xenophon ZolotasOctober 12, 1944January 8, 1945First term; co-Governor
Georgios MantzavinosFebruary 11, 1946February 2, 1955
Xenophon ZolotasFebruary 5, 1955August 7, 1967Second term
Dimitrios GalanisAugust 7, 1967May 4, 1973
Konstantinos PapagiannisMay 7, 1973August 9, 1974
August 9, 1974October 24, 1974
Xenophon ZolotasNovember 26, 1974November 3, 1981Third term; Prime Minister 1989–90
Gerasimos ArsenisNovember 3, 1981February 20, 1984
Dimitrios ChalikiasFebruary 20, 1984February 20, 1992
Efthymios ChristodoulouFebruary 20, 1992December 1, 1993
Ioannis BoutosDecember 1, 1993October 26, 1994
Lucas PapademosOctober 26, 1994June 14, 2002Prime Minister 2011–12
Nikolaos GarganasJune 14, 2002June 14, 2008Greek Financial Audit, 2004
Georgios ProvopoulosJune 20, 2008June 20, 2014Greek government-debt crisis; European debt crisis
Yannis Stournaras20 June 2014IncumbentGreek government-debt crisis; European debt crisis

a During the Axis occupation of Greece, Governor Kyriakos Varvaresos followed the Greek government in exile to London. The collaborationist governments in Greece fired Varvaresos in 1941 and appointed first Miltiadis Negrepontis as Governing Counsellor and then Dimitrios Santis and finally Theodoros Tourkovasilis as Governors. After the liberation all dismissals and appointments by occupation-era governments concerning members of the administration of the Bank of Greece were declared null and void.

Deputy Governors

The deputy governor is the Bank's second-in-line officer. Traditionally the Deputy Governors' main remit is administration, whereas Governors supervise monetary policy at large.
': During the Axis occupation of Greece, Deputy Governor Georgios Mantzavinos followed the Greek government in exile to London. The collaborationist governments in Greece fired Mantzavinos in 1941 and appointed Andreas Papadimitriou and Spyridon Hatzikyriakos as Deputy Governors. After the liberation all dismissals and appointments by occupation-era governments concerning members of the administration of the Bank of Greece were declared null and void.