Greece to ease capital controls for domestic share investors-regulator

Euronext Athens Holding SA

07/12/2015 13:06

BRUSSELS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Greece will ease restrictions to 
allow domestic investors who want to buy shares through the 
Athens Stock Exchange to use money blocked in domestic bank 
accounts, the country's securities regulator said on Monday. 
   "In this way, local investors will be able to buy shares with 
new and old money... removing the discrimination between 
domestic and foreign investors," regulator Charalampos Gotsis. 
   Domestic investors were barred from withdrawing money from a 
deposit account to buy securities as part of capital controls  
imposed in June to stem deposit flight from Greek banks. 
    They could only buy shares with "new money" brought from 
abroad, cash they held at home or in a deposit box, or from new 
bank accounts opened after a previous stock market rule was 
issued late in July.  ID:nL5N10D0H6  
    "However if domestic investors sell the shares, they cannot 
export the money," Gotsis told Reuters in a telephone interview. 
    Foreign investors do face these restrictions. 
    He also said that he proposed to the capital market 
committee extending a ban on short-selling bank shares, which 
was due to expire on Monday, until Dec. 20.  
    "By then, all new bank shares will be listed in the market," 
Gotsis said.   
 
 (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Angeliki 
Koutantou; Editing by Paul Taylor) 
 ((paul.taylor@thomsonreuters.com; +322 2876987; Reuters 
Messaging: paul.taylor.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: EUROZONE GREECE/BANKS