National Bank of Greece ADR (fka NBGGY)

[Chriss777]

Hello Nick,

NBG did pull a 1-for-15 reverse split in 2015 in a failed attempt to
remain in compliance with NYSE listing requirements of trading above a dollar for 29 consecutive trading days.

However since the ADR is being cancelled that rule no longer applies or matters. The rules for stocks trading in Athens are different and less stringent than here in the states.

For example to remain in compliance on the ASE a company needs to have a Market capitalization of at least 3 million euros which is the equivalent of $3,583,000 Dollars. NBG has a market cap well above that.

Also depending on the number of shares you own, a reverse split at the right time might not be such a bad thing.

PIRAEUS Bank, Ticker -- (BPIRD) -- did a 1 for 20 RS in August. The result was a price of $13.76 from whatever penny's it traded at. Now it did fall pretty hard soon after the RS to as low as $4.60, but it's rebounded and trades comfortable around $7 a share now. Now that it seems to have formed a solid based, if I were invested in Piraeus I'd be comfortable continuing to buy at the $7.00 level after the RS.

If NBG did a RS most of us would probably survive a 1 for 20 or even a 1 for 50 with a good number of shares remaining. And remember the value of your holding doesn't change. Just the stock price.

And a higher stock price, one above $5.00, is far more attractive to institutional investors than a penny stock trading at.35 cents. I'd love to go from .35 to $5.00 or even $10 dollars -- over the long term. But I'm being realistic.

Something like that probably won't happen overnight. It took GGP 5 years to go from .35 cents to $30.00 -- and that was without a RS. People who were wise and bought and held -- became wealthy.

As far as NBG goes, I wouldn't mind a RS that puts us in a more attractive trading category for institutional investors. As long as it's not something crazy like 1 for 1000.

But a reverse split at the right time after the smoke has cleared regarding these stress test and bailout talks and contingency loans could be beneficial. Especially if the bank has reduced its NPL's is turning a profit and the citizens are working and earning decent wages so they can actually spend and save money. All that takes time. However if those things happen maybe there won't even be a need for a RS split at all.

Now a share buy back by NBG would be great. However Greek banks are not allowed by the European authorities to do buy backs while on the ELA mechanism because that would effectively translate into the ECB subsidizing banks' shareholders.

We just have to be patient, keep our fingers crossed and ride it out. To put it bluntly we're either going to make a lot of money or we're gonna get crushed like those poor people who bought when NBG was trading double digits.

But it's a new day and I'm betting we'll make money. Eventually. I still believe it won't be for another few years because of the government and ow they run things over there. But in time I think the recovery will reward all those who can hang tough and hold over the long term. Good luck to you!

https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/cf-noaction/2016/hellenic-exchanges-071516-902b.pdf