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The
exchange could reopen as early as Wednesday depending on the
ECB's opinion, the sources said.
Greek regulators offered two different plans for the reopening -
one allowing unrestricted trading and a second that imposed
restrictions on trading by Greek investors to prevent capital
fleeing banks, the sources said.
"Whether we will open tomorrow or another day depends on when we
get a response from the ECB," one of the sources said.
"It's not certain that we will open tomorrow."
The Athens stock exchange has been shut since June 29 after the
government shut banks and imposed capital controls to prevent
banks from collapsing under the weight of mass withdrawals.
At that point, Greece's main equity index <.ATG> was already
down 16 percent from its 2015 high, hit in February.
If it remains closed much longer, the bourse risks its place in
the global securities indices. FTSE Russell, which compiles
indexes across major asset classes, said last week it was
retaining Greece securities in its indices for another 10
business days to see if the Greek bourse reopened.
Market participants said that unlimited trading for domestic
investors could pose a serious risk for Greek lenders which are
already struggling with deposit outflows and depend on ECB
emergency funding to stay afloat.
"The problem is that if the trading starts without restrictions,
then many Greeks could withdraw their deposits and turn them
into shares or bonds," Takis Zamanis, chief trader at
Athens-based brokerage Beta Securities told Reuters.
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou, Writing
by Deepa Babington; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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