Greece's banks are getting absolutely obliterated today. Well, that is, all but one Greek bank. Shares in Attica Bank closed up 3.57%, and rose by as much as 7% earlier. It's the only bank now trading on the Athens Stock Exchange that hasn't been hit heavily today. Not only that, but it's up by 20% this week. Other banks are flirting with 50% losses since Syriza's triumph in the Greek elections on Sunday. Admittedly, the shares are cheap: they're coming in at just €0.06 now. A 20% jump in such a small share price isn't worth much, but it's clear that shares are going in the opposite direction to the country's major banks. However, it's not clear why. Greek crisis watcher and Macropolis writer Yannis Mouzakis credits the move to the "stupid market" — meaning the market is volatile and sometimes things happen for no single reason, but due to a combination of events that aren't necessarily connected. The main shareholder in Attica Bank is TSMDE, a pension fund for public contractors and engineers. Attica is also the only bank that hasn't sought assistance from Greece's stability fund, which is still listed publicly (traded on the stock exchange.) All the others were either bailed out or got suspended when they collapsed. There's a rumour circulating that the bank will be given some sort of special role by the incoming government in assisting small firms, but for now that's just gossip.Join the conversation about this story »
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