CrediaBank expects to finalise a deal with HSBC Malta as early as Friday 5th September.

The update came from Thrivest Holdings partner Alexandro Exarchou, the majority shareholder, who said the bank “is working hard” to conclude talks by the end of the week.

Speaking to Greek news portal NewMoney.gr, Mr Exarchou shed further light on the negotiations that have seen the Green bank emerge as the preferred bidder for HSBC’s Maltese operation.

He revealed that talks between CrediaBank and HSBC Holdings (HSBC Malta’s majority shareholder) in the last week of July, with the key terms agreed by 15th August.

That day, HSBC Malta released a company announcement stating that its parent company had entered into exclusive discussions with CrediaBank.

Mr Exarchou says his team “exerted pressure” on HSBC, “namely to be able to either complete the process quickly, or not to get involved at all.”

This, he said, allowed CrediaBank to “manage to complete something that others could not have done in such a short period of time.”

While giving credit to the main role played by CrediaBank CEO Eleni Vrettou and the bank’s team, Mr Exarchou admitted he also participated in the negotiations: “There is always a background in these processes.”

All that remains for the deal to go through, he continued, is confirmation from the due diligence process, which is expected to be completed by Friday 5th September.

Such a fast negotiation would present a stunning close to a year-long process that has seen a handful of other challengers to acquire Malta’s second largest bank fall by the wayside, largely due to regulatory concerns and lukewarm response from Maltese authorities.

CrediaBank, as an EU bank partly owned by the Greek state, has thus far managed to overcome these challenges.

If the HSBC Malta deal closes this week, it would represent a significant international expansion milestone, adding further weight to the bank’s growth story.