The leadership of the Greek group Marfin is irritated by the publication of the letter sent by the Central Bank of Cyprus to its Deputy Chairman, Andreas Vgenopoulos on Monday. The publication of unverified information by the Cypriot monetary authority has raised strong feelings to Marfin, which insists that it secures its rights within the framework of the existing laws.

Early today, the Central Bank issued an announcement according to which the authority “investigates an unverified information for a cartel between Marfin and Tosca Fund for the acquisition of the share capital of the Popular Bank held by HSBC”.

“We don’t know why did the Central Bank deem necessary to announce unverified information”, Mr. Vgenopoulos said. Speaking to StockWatch, the Deputy Chairman rejected the allegations for a cartel with Tosca Fund, which acquired 8.18% of the shares of Laiki Group after the withdrawal of HSBC in early 2006. Marfin acquired 9.98%. “We intervened to find an institutional investor to Laiki and we were paid for the services we offered. That’s all”, Mr. Vgenopoulos said.

Mr. Vgenopoulos also rejected the Central Bank’s accusations for a breach of the law on the closed period by Marfin, stressing that “the company did not violate the law since the Board of Directors of Laiki became a body today”. “However, we respected the interpretation of the Securities and Exchange Commission and we stopped the purchase of shares as a token of respect to the supervisory authority”, he added.

In its announcement published by StockWatch earlier today, the Central Bank warned that “if the investigation confirms the unverified information for a cartel, the Bank will take all the necessary measures”.

“We will secure our rights within the framework of the existing legislation”, Mr. Vgenopoulos concluded.