One of the European officials said that the four major Greek banks - National Bank of Greece, Eurobank, Piraeus and Alpha Bank (all of which have subsidiaries in Romania) - could become two. "The Greek economy is in ruin. That means that banks need a reboot", according to the quoted source, which stressed that prompt action will be necessary in the event of any bail-out between Athens and the Eurozone, adding that Cyprus could be a model in that regard.  Another official said that even though the mergers of banks are necessary, that measure would be a process that could take a long time.  Ever since autumn last year, there have been rumors circulating in the Romanian market that talks concerning the merger between Bancpost and Piraeus Bank or Banca Românească had taken place.  Banking market sources told us, at the time, that the financial institution that would acquire Bancpost would be designated following the decisions made at the level of the parent banks, headquartered in Athens.  In the beginning of October 2014, the press wrote that Piraeus Bank was considering acquiring Bancpost from Eurobank, in exchange for selling its Bulgarian subsidiary or those in Bulgaria and Serbia together.  According to a scenario presented in a reorganization plan drafted upon the request of the General Competition Department of the European Commission, the Piraeus plan proposes for the Greek banks to consolidate their Balkan operations through exchanging branches, in order to reach critical masses on those respective markets, as written on October 8th by Greek portal Sofokleous10. At the time, Piraeus representatives were saying that the operations in Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Cyprus were viable and of strategic importance for the group. The Greek press had written, a few days earlier, that Banca Românească, the subsidiary of National Bank of Greece (NBG), the biggest bank in Greece, was for sale. The four major Greek banks - Eurobank, Piraeus, Alpha and NBG - have not yet succeeded in merging, even though in the past, a merger agreement was signed between Eurobank and NBG, which was later cancelled, in the beginning of last year.

 ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greek lawmakers voted overwhelmingly early Thursday to approve a harsh austerity bill demanded by bailout creditors, despite significant dissent from members of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' left-wing party.  The bill, which imposes sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts, fueled anger in the governing Syriza party and led to a revolt against Tsipras, who has insisted the deal forged after a marathon weekend eurozone summit was the best he could do to prevent Greece from catastrophically crashing out of Europe's joint currency.  The bill was approved with 229 votes in favor, 64 against and six abstentions - and won the support of three pro-European opposition parties.    The vote came after an anti-austerity demonstration by about 12,000 protesters outside parliament degenerated into violence as the debate was getting underway Wednesday night. Riot police battled youths who hurled petrol bombs for about an hour before the clashes died down.

The bill was the first step Greece must take in order to begin negotiations with creditors on a new bailout - its third in five years - of about 85 billion euros ($93 billion) in loans over three years.

Dissenters argued that Greeks could not face any further cuts after six years of recession that saw poverty and unemployment skyrocket and wiped out a quarter of the country's economy.

Tsipras has been battling all week to persuade party hard-liners to back the deal. He has acknowledged the agreement reached with creditors was far from what he wanted and trampled on his pre-election promises of repealing austerity, but insisted the alternative would have been far worse for the country.

THE GREEK PROPOSAL - Crucially, in this document at least, there is no mention of the debt sustainability issue.

• Primary budget surplus targets: government has agreed to hit targets of 1pc, 2pc, 3pc, and 3.5pc from 2015-2018. This is in line with what has already been proposed, but they are still very ambitious, particularly as economic activity is set to have deteriorated even further while the country is under capital controls and the banking system is temporarily shut down.

• VAT exemptions for Greek islands will be abolished: the 30pc discounted rate will go, as demanded by creditors but previously fiercely resisted by the government. The proposals say they will start with "islands with the highest incomes and which are the most popular tourist destinations" first.

• Hotels will remain in lower 13pc bracket, but restaurants will be hit by the highest 23pc bracket. Books, medicines and the theater (don't ask me why) will remain at a super reduced 6pc rate.

• Greek farmers will also have all fuel subsidies abolished, another concession demanded by creditors in previous plans

• Importantly, the proposals note that these VAT measures will be reviewed before the end of 2016, if "additional revenues are collected through tax evasion" and other improved collection measures result in higher tax income

• Higher income tax: should any of the proposals result in "fiscal shortfalls" the government is controversially proposing hikes on income tax for the poorest earners. This would see

- incomes below €12,000 taxed at 15pc (from 11pc)

- incomes above €12,000 taxed at 35pc (from 33pc)

• Corporation tax: will be raised to 28pc, rather than 29pc first set out by Athens

• Pensions: Greeks have agreed to phase out their supplementary pensions for the poorest by Dec 2019, rather than 2020. There is no mention of replacing them, and importantly, the top 20pc beneficiaries will also not be protected from the cuts. The government has also agreed to hike the basic pensions retirement age to 67

• Interestingly, the government also seems to have agreed to nullify previous court rulings which have deemed the 40pc cut in pensions as unconstitutional and need of reverse: The authorities will adopt legislation to fully offset the fiscal effects of the implementation of court rulings on the 2012 pension reform.

• Defence spending: to be cut by €100m this year and €200m in 2016. Creditors previously demanded €400m budget cut next year.

"Riot police have clashed with anarchist groups in Athens tonight, as Greece’s PM Tsipras faces rebellion over the country’s bailout plan" So anyone who does not appreciate being fucked over by their own lying gutless back peddling government for the sake of the Troika and the thugs they represent, is automatically an Anarchist?

European Commission will use €7bn from an EU bail-out fund for Greece, as Tsipras says banks might not reopen for months

What is legal basis to use EFSM? The treaties establishing the new rescue fund ruled out the use of the previous EFSM to rescue a eurozone member. Mr Dombrovskis is asked on what the legal basis is for using the moribund fund. "Given the very difficult situation, and given the urgency, and given the way we are addressing the real concern, I think it is still possible," he says. "There are technical interpretations of this decision. There is a political problem that needs to be addressed. At the end of the day, the decision is to be made by the Council. Currently, we don't have better solutions on the table." He adds that by just helping one eurozone country, and not the bloc as a whole, the Commission can get round its own prohibition.

By: Credit Suisse

Will 2015 be the year Europe’s sluggish economy finally sputters to life? Time will tell, but the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing policy, low oil prices, and a weak euro should all help bolster economic growth in the coming months. Watch our video to see what experts such as José Manuel Barroso, former President, European Commission, and Richard Fisher, former President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, had to say at the Credit Suisse 18th Annual Asian Investment Conference. - See more at: http://www.thefinancialist.com/is-the-eurozone-ready-for-healthy-growth/#sthash.1iRVoHdS.dpuf

European Councilp president Donald Tusk has said Greece's creditors should consider debt sustainability if Athens tables realistic reform proposals, something it is meant to do by midnight today.  "The realistic proposal from Greece will have to be matched by an equally realistic proposal on debt sustainability from the creditors. Only then will we have a win-win situation”, Tusk said on Thursday (9 July), after speaking with Greek leader Alexis Tsipras by phone earlier in the day.

The comment comes on top of a widely publicised report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of Greece's creditors, which also said the country's debt mountain is hindering growth.  IMF chief Christine Lagarde repeated the stance on Wednesday, saying that while Greece needs structural reforms and fiscal consolidation, "the other leg is debt restructuring, which we believe is needed in the case of Greece for it to have debt sustainability”.  Debt sustainability - along with the various formats for getting there - has been a central sticking point for the Greek government, which says it cannot support its debt. Germany, Athens' biggest eurozone creditor, has already rejected an outright debt write-off as illegal under the EU treaties, amid a general hardening of euro countries' attitudes to the Tsipras government.  The hardening came after Tsipras called a snap referendum on creditors' terms, resulting in a rejection of them by Greek citizens. Since then, creditors have insisted Greece will have to commit to more reforms as the economic situation has deteriorated further, amid closed banks and capital controls, now in place for over a week.

Greece, for its part, asked for a three-year bailout on Wednesday, with the European Commission and the European Central Bank currently looking at whether it is eligible for a further (third) loan.