With some time having passed and Kimb now gone, people have started talking about what really happened at that much-discussed dinner at the US ambassador’s residence about a month ago. It was the incident that sparked the Wall Street Journal report which ultimately ignited the controversy that brought down the ambassador.

The dinner was attended by ministers Stavros Papastavrou and Konstantinos Kyranakis, Greek and American military officers, a US ambassador or chargé d’affaires to NATO, and embassy officials led by Kimberly Guilfoyle.

According to an eyewitness who has now recounted the incident to me, one of the guests mentioned that a minister in Romania — roughly the Romanian equivalent of Nikos Papathanasis — had resigned over an issue that had almost become the exclusive preoccupation of the US ambassador in Athens: promoting American LNG in the Balkans through the Vertical Corridor.

At that point, according to the account, Guilfoyle apparently exclaimed in a rather animated manner that the Romanian minister had got what he deserved. She then reportedly remarked: “See what we can do? We can bring down governments in Romania, here in Athens and elsewhere.”

After several seconds of awkward silence, Papastavrou naturally responded, making it clear that such things do not happen in Greece. He did not deliver some grand patriotic speech, but his response was unmistakably firm and unequivocal.

That was where the incident ended. Unfortunately for Guilfoyle, however, someone subsequently passed the story around, and it eventually reached the Wall Street Journal — unless, of course, the gossip went straight to the newspaper in the first place.

The departure of Kimberly Guilfoyle

As for Guilfoyle, I hear it is only a matter of time before she sends her formal resignation letter to US President Donald Trump, officially relinquishing her duties. With that in mind, she is expected to pack her belongings and probably leave for the United States next week.

Her difficulties may not end there. After the midterm elections, the Democrats are clearly waiting in the wings and are expected to seek congressional scrutiny of her conduct, in addition to the internal investigation already being carried out by the US State Department.

Josh Huck’s debut alongside the US senator: Nothing is more permanent than a temporary appointment

There has been plenty of speculation about who will succeed Guilfoyle, but the old saying that nothing is more permanent than a temporary appointment may prove particularly apt.

Josh Huck, until recently the embassy’s number two, could end up performing the role for an extended period. Today he makes his first appearance in the new circumstances, accompanying a congressional delegation holding meetings in Athens.

US Senator Rick Scott, an experienced politician from Florida with a longstanding record of supporting Greece and opposing Turkey’s acquisition of F-35 fighter jets, arrived in Athens yesterday.

At noon, Scott is due to visit the Foreign Ministry for talks with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, accompanied by Huck. Later, he will visit the Energy Ministry, where he will meet Papastavrou, before heading to the Bodossaki Mansion at around 6.30pm for a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.

Hatzidakis, meanwhile, will have spent the morning in Brussels in his capacity as a vice-president of the European People’s Party. The summit begins at 8.30am Greek time, after which he will immediately fly back to Athens.

Greece’s battle for flexibility in Brussels

Speaking of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he too is in Brussels, having travelled there directly from Larissa yesterday after attending the investment event organised by Metlen and the Karatzis Group in Kileler.

His central objective in discussions that will also cover the energy crisis is to ensure Greece can use the funding available under the escape clause to subsidise consumption. With a long and difficult winter ahead, there is a growing need for government budget support.

In other words, Athens wants the available funds to finance not just infrastructure projects, such as heat pumps, but also direct financial support schemes similar to the fuel pass.

I asked my source yesterday whether these measures would be introduced immediately or in 2027. The cryptic reply was: “Whenever it happens, we will use the money.”

Break-ups and bitter disputes within SYRIZA

Separations bring heartache and complications, and complications leave unfinished business. When one or both sides delay settling their outstanding issues, conflict breaks out and promises of an amicable divorce quickly fall apart.

In the case of SYRIZA and the MPs who have left the party to sit as independents, the dispute over parliamentary seats is not a legal one. It is entirely political.

The party leadership at Koumoundourou wants to rebuild its now diminished parliamentary group and put an end to the continuing loss of MPs and seats to former prime minister Alexis Tsipras. The independent MPs, meanwhile, want to proceed at their own pace, with each following a different timetable.

But it was not only Nikos Pappas and Rena Dourou who issued an ultimatum. Tsipras himself also sent a message to the 12 independents — the 12 apostles of the Last Supper spring to mind — urging them not to surrender their parliamentary seats at the very last moment before the elections.

With Koumoundourou continuing to press for the situation to be resolved during October, despite its deadline having already expired, developments could now accelerate.

There is also that document signed by every parliamentary candidate under Tsipras before the 2023 elections. It reminds them that “all MPs elected on the SYRIZA–Progressive Alliance ticket are politically and morally committed to the principle that the parliamentary seat they hold belongs to the party”.

Ah, those commitments.

Kostas Zachariadis also comes under fire

During yesterday’s press conference at SYRIZA headquarters, the party’s “collective leadership” — with the exception of Polakis and president Rena — recalled another rather inconvenient detail.

It was SYRIZA’s Political Secretariat that decided to appoint Kostas Zachariadis as leader of the Open City municipal grouping, effectively selecting him as the party’s candidate for mayor of Athens in the summer of 2023.

By the time the decision was made, Tsipras had already stepped aside, having previously proposed another candidate. And who might that have been? Nikos Pappas, the former basketball player and now MEP whose subsequent relationship with SYRIZA was hardly a success.

Returning to the point, Stefanos Kasselakis and SYRIZA’s Political Secretariat supported Zachariadis’s selection. Now, under its new collective leadership, Koumoundourou is asking him to resign as head of the municipal grouping.

Will he do it? Unlikely.

The particularly amusing part is that Zachariadis, who has now formally joined ELAS, is one of three Open City representatives on Athens City Council, each affiliated with a different party.

The other two are Despoina Alevizaki, who is with New Left, and Anna Filini, a well-known figure from the reformist Left who has remained in SYRIZA. Three elected representatives, three different parties.

Zachariadis and Athens Mayor Haris Doukas, meanwhile, intend to maintain their good working relationship at the municipality. Doukas, of course, has his own PASOK-backed grouping, with 26 councillors rather than three.

PASOK turns its attention to Aigaleo

Not everyone in PASOK is enjoying a period of harmony, although party officials have recently been making a concerted effort to avoid situations that might trigger internal disputes.

MPs are eager to see the political climate improve — meaning the party’s polling figures — in the hope of making their re-election more secure. Almost everyone now believes that second place is no longer beyond reach.

Time will tell. Until then, they are doing everything they can.

This week, even officials who had barely exchanged a greeting for some time have been campaigning together in neighbourhoods across Attica.

Why? Because PASOK’s performance in the previous elections was in single digits, well behind SYRIZA, and the Communist Party even overtook it in 2023.

But there is another reason.

A celebration on Sunday — but of what?

This Sunday, 18 October, marks the anniversary of PASOK’s sweeping election victory in 1981, when Andreas Papandreou led the party to power.

To commemorate the occasion, PASOK has organised an event at the indoor sports hall in Aigaleo, where party leader Nikos Androulakis will speak about the challenges facing the party today.

Any comparison between then and now is bound to be difficult.

MEVGAL and Olympos circle DELTA

With the Evergood sale to Fairfax-owned Recipe Unlimited now completed, attention is turning to DELTA.

Market sources suggest that Alex Fotakidis is in no particular hurry to sell. Nevertheless, there is a widespread expectation that DELTA will be the next major deal, and that any serious buyer will almost certainly need to be an established player in the dairy industry.

That puts the spotlight on Olympos, owned by the Sarantis brothers, who are known to be interested in acquiring DELTA. Competitors, however, point to the group’s high debt exposure, arguing that any acquisition would need to be funded from its own resources.

The other prospective buyer is MEVGAL, whose shareholders include the Hatzakos family and businessman Spyros Theodoropoulos through his Bespoke group.

Theodoropoulos holds a 13.6% stake in MEVGAL, acquired from Vivartia/CVC in cooperation with the Hatzakos family.

What was left out of the Goody’s–Everest acquisition announcement

One particularly interesting omission from Vivartia’s announcement about Evergood was the purchase price.

The figure, however, was hardly a secret in the market, as CVC had been seeking €300 million. Fairfax ultimately signed a deal for an undisclosed amount, and when a transaction’s value is kept confidential, it usually means either that the seller received less than expected or considerably more than it wants the market to know.

Deloitte began its due diligence last April.

Evergood’s balance sheet includes €100.8 million in loans and €60 million in lease liabilities, both of which reduce the net proceeds.

CVC acquired Vivartia in 2020 at an enterprise valuation of €635 million. Since then, it has received €130 million from Ideal for Barba Stathis, €110 million from the Sarantis brothers for Dodoni and now approximately €300 million from the food-service business.

That adds up to roughly €540 million in proceeds, while CVC still retains DELTA and Arabatzis.

In April, meanwhile, it extracted €125 million through a return of capital, financed by a new €150 million bond issue arranged by Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank and Eurobank.

The fund is now in the sixth year of an investment originally planned to last five to seven years. As long as assets remain in its portfolio, Fotakidis’s office will remain open.

Another striking feature of the Vivartia–Evergood transaction is the army of advisers involved. Rothschild, Deloitte and Bernitsas represented the seller, while Scotiabank, EY-Parthenon, KPMG and Karatzas advised the buyer.

Seven advisory firms for a Greek restaurant chain selling burgers.

Recipe Unlimited is not buying as a private equity fund but as an operating business with 1,100 restaurants that needs a platform for expansion into the Middle East.

Frank Hennessey’s first comments focused on the management team rather than potential synergies. In other words, the existing management will remain in place, while the franchise network will expand.

For Prem Watsa, who bought Eurobank shares at €0.94 and has seen them rise to €4.40, valuing the bank at more than €16.1 billion and his 33% stake at over €5 billion, Evergood hardly looks like a major transaction.

Greece finally puts its 34% stake in DESFA to work

It is both encouraging and reassuring to see the Greek state making productive use of its substantial assets. Such decisions offer tangible evidence that the country is changing and making progress.

A bill from the Ministry of Environment and Energy, currently under public consultation, contains a provision allowing the state’s 34% holding in DESFA, Greece’s natural gas transmission system operator, to be transferred to another company directly or indirectly wholly controlled by the state.

According to information received, the provision was introduced to enable the stake to be transferred to DEPA Commercial, which is wholly owned by the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations, commonly known as the Growthfund.

The move would give what has until now been a minority state holding in one of Greece’s most important energy infrastructure companies a more active role in the government’s broader investment strategy.

The state acquired the 34% stake during DESFA’s privatisation and has effectively remained a passive shareholder ever since, with corporate control resting with Senfluga SA, which owns the remaining 66%.

Integrating the stake into DEPA Commercial would strengthen the company’s asset base and balance sheet, improving its ability to raise debt financing.

The European Investment Bank is also part of the picture, given its involvement in financing DEPA’s investment programme.

Bank of Cyprus extends Panicos Nicolaou’s term as CEO until 2031

The board of directors of Bank of Cyprus met yesterday and decided to extend chief executive Panicos Nicolaou’s tenure until 31 December 2031.

Nicolaou will sign a new contract covering the period through to the end of 2031. The board thanked him for his contribution so far and wished him continued success in his new term.

Can a protected forest really be developed? Questions over 4,000 acres in Argolida

Away from the public spotlight — and consequently from transparency — a large tract of forest land in Argolida has effectively been put up for sale.

The initiative is being pursued by the management of the Housing Cooperative of Permanent Hellenic Navy Officers (OSMAN), and concerns land in the Korakia area of Kranidi.

According to information received, the cooperative is moving towards an agreement with a construction company to develop approximately 4,000 stremmata of land, equivalent to around 400 hectares or 988 acres, most of which is classified as forest.

A similar plan was attempted approximately three years ago. The cooperative’s management is now reviving it, threatening the destruction of an area of outstanding natural beauty and considerable environmental importance.

This raises a question that must be answered not only by those responsible at OSMAN, but above all by the Environment Ministry, the regional authorities and planning departments.

How can an area officially classified as forest land, whose legal status has also been considered by Greece’s Supreme Court, the Areios Pagos, become the subject of an agreement with a construction company for residential development?

From a dinner at Koukouvagia to GEK TERNA’s next moves at EYDAP

GEK TERNA chairman Giorgos Peristeris was spotted in a relaxed mood last Friday evening at Koukouvagia, near the Hilton in Athens.

Dining with a large group, he appeared to be enjoying both the food and the conversation.

But while the atmosphere around his table was relaxed, the same can hardly be said of the period facing the group, with major projects and concessions proceeding at full speed. These range from the Egnatia motorway and Crete’s Northern Road Axis, known as BOAK, to the integrated resort complex at Ellinikon and the new airport at Kastelli.

EYDAP has also moved firmly into focus. GEK TERNA is beginning to exercise the rights attached to the 12.76% stake it acquired from John Paulson, expanding its interests into new areas within and beyond Attica.

At the request of GEK TERNA Urban Services, a special meeting of minority shareholders has been called for 30 October. Its agenda includes removing the two existing minority shareholder representatives from the board of directors and electing replacements.

Before that, EYDAP will hold an extraordinary general meeting to consider amendments to its articles of association and changes to its remuneration policy.

One of the candidates proposed for the two board positions is Giannis Aligizakis, chairman of Elinoil and of the Hellenic Petroleum Marketing Companies Association (SEEPE).

Aligizakis is an experienced figure in Greece’s energy and fuels market, with a long career in senior management.

His proposed appointment is significant because it demonstrates that GEK TERNA’s acquisition of an EYDAP stake is not merely a passive financial investment.

The group is exercising the rights associated with its position as a major minority shareholder and is now seeking representation on the board through the process for electing minority shareholder directors.

For Aligizakis himself, however, EYDAP appears to be only one of several developments unfolding during this period.

Market participants are watching with interest for his next professional move in the wider energy and fuels sector, as his term as chairman of Elinoil ends at the close of the year.

IDEAL Group and the Parthenon Sculptures

IDEAL Group’s fifth-anniversary event at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, attended by numerous high-profile guests, attracted attention well beyond the gathering itself.

The keynote speaker was George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum, OpenAI’s head of government relations and former British Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Speaking at the event marking five years since the establishment of the new IDEAL, Osborne addressed the Parthenon Sculptures and suggested there was scope for dialogue.

His comments caught Bloomberg’s attention, prompting the news organisation to request a subsequent interview.

Osborne told Bloomberg that a deal allowing the sculptures to return to Greece was achievable if both countries were prepared to compromise.

He expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached if both sides approached the negotiations understanding that neither would get everything it wanted, which he described as the basis of a successful agreement.

Natural gas prices climb again

Natural gas prices have resumed their upward trajectory, with contracts trading at €85 per megawatt-hour.

Particularly worrying is the fact that the entire series of futures contracts expiring between now and March 2027 is also trading at around €85.

In practical terms, that translates into electricity generation costs exceeding €200 per megawatt-hour, even before accounting for producers’ profits, operating and financing costs, and third-party charges appearing on electricity bills, including network fees, municipal charges and public broadcaster ERT contributions.

Today’s wholesale electricity price ceiling stands at €320 per megawatt-hour, despite 80% of the generation mix coming from renewable energy sources operating under predetermined tariffs.

And winter has not even begun.

More helicopters for Greece’s growing VIP aviation market

The Greek market for VIP flights appears to offer considerable opportunities. After all, several companies operating their own fleets of helicopters and aircraft have entered the sector in recent years.

British helicopter manufacturer Hill Helicopters has evidently identified the same trend and decided to establish a presence in Greece.

According to information received by this column, Hill Helicopters MAE was incorporated yesterday, with activities covering helicopter manufacturing and wholesale distribution, research services in naval architecture and aeronautical engineering, and the manufacture of other aircraft components.

The company’s initial share capital stands at €25,000, contributed by Ioannis Kelemenis, while Eleni Kelemeni has taken over its management.

Kelemenis is the managing partner of Kelemenis & Associates, a law firm with extensive experience in commercial and regulatory law and dispute resolution. The new company is registered on Tsakalof Street, where the law firm’s offices are also located.

Hill Helicopters is an innovative helicopter manufacturer founded in 2020 by Dr Jason Hill and based in Stafford, United Kingdom. It has an extensive international presence, with more than 1,400 orders across several countries.

Interestingly, the same individuals also established another company yesterday: JobEngine AI, with Kelemenis as shareholder and Kelemeni as administrator. The name suggests a business management platform for the construction and solar energy sectors.

Trastor to spend nearly €20 million on green upgrades to two Athens buildings

Trastor REIC is preparing to spend just under €20 million on environmentally focused upgrades to two of the three properties it recently acquired from National Insurance in central Athens for a combined €39 million. The third property is already generating rental income.

The portfolio comprises a multi-storey building at 8 Karagiorgi Servias Street, covering approximately 6,500 square metres and accounting for the largest share of the purchase price at €26 million; another multi-storey property at 58 Athinas Street, measuring around 3,800 square metres; and a third building at 1–3 Apellou Street, with a total area of approximately 5,100 square metres.

Speaking at yesterday’s Prodexpo conference, Trastor chief executive Tasos Kazinos said that following the company’s €150 million share capital increase, its free float had risen to slightly above 16%, compared with just 1.4% beforehand. Piraeus Bank remains the largest shareholder.

Beyond the three office buildings in central Athens, Kazinos said the company was also actively examining opportunities in the logistics sector.

“We are also actively looking at the logistics sector, where we see some opportunities,” he said.

Trastor is close to reaching agreements for two logistics properties, in investments that could exceed €30 million.

The combined value of all these investments is approximately €90 million.

“Our aim is to invest the entire amount raised through the capital increase by the end of 2027 and increase the company’s gross asset value (GAV) to more than €1 billion,” Kazinos said.

According to official figures, Trastor’s GAV stood at €867 million at the end of the first half of 2026.

Jumbo shares climb back above €26 as rally gathers pace

Jumbo recorded its strongest daily performance in six months yesterday, with its shares rising 4.5% to €26.36, reclaiming the €26 mark for the first time since mid-September.

It was the stock’s largest single-day gain since 1 April, when it advanced 4.9%.

The rally was accompanied by turnover of €20.76 million and trading volume exceeding 800,000 shares.

Three block trades were completed, with a combined value of €9.37 million, involving 366,000 shares at prices ranging from €25.42 to €25.88.

Jumbo has now recorded three consecutive days of gains, accumulating a 7.2% increase.

Successive share purchases by Sofia Vakaki may also be contributing to investor interest.

On 8 October, Vakaki acquired 3,155 shares worth €76,315.80, while since 28 September she has purchased more than 225,300 shares, according to published disclosures.

These transactions may be interpreted as a sign of confidence in the company’s prospects, helping to strengthen market sentiment. However, there has been no confirmation that they are the sole catalyst behind the rally.

HELLENiQ ENERGY eyes €20 as Motor Oil approaches €70

Shares in Greece’s two major oil refiners are moving towards new record highs, with HELLENiQ ENERGY reaching a fresh peak and Motor Oil closing in on the €70 milestone.

HELLENiQ ENERGY gained more than 2%, closing at €19.50 for the first time, after touching €19.74 during the session.

The next significant price level for the stock is €20.

Motor Oil, meanwhile, finished 1.45% higher at €69.80, having reached an intraday high of €69.95.

Over the past two trading sessions, Motor Oil has gained 4.5%, while HELLENiQ ENERGY has advanced 5.6%, underscoring the strong stock market momentum across the refining sector.

Motor Oil’s market capitalisation now stands at €7.73 billion, compared with €5.95 billion for HELLENiQ ENERGY, bringing their combined market value close to €13.7 billion.

The rising cost of borrowing and Greece’s painful lesson

In a coincidence of timing that even the most informed communications adviser would envy, Morgan Stanley and the International Monetary Fund delivered essentially the same message in the same week.

The era of cheap government borrowing is over, but public deficits have yet to catch up with that reality.

Morgan Stanley estimates that the US federal deficit will widen from 5.4% of GDP in 2025 to 6.1% in 2027, reaching its highest level since 2012 if the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 are excluded.

That would exceed the projected deficits of France at 5.2%, Germany at 4.1% and Britain at 3.1%.

Germany, which revised its constitutional debt brake only last year on the grounds of increased defence and infrastructure spending, is now facing a deficit that will almost double from 2.7%.

Japan, whose public debt stands at 208% of GDP, is expected to see its deficit rise from 0.7% to 2.5%.

Only Britain is projected to improve its position, reducing its deficit from 4.3% to 3.1%.

The crucial development, however, is not the deficits themselves but the cost of financing them.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond has broken through 5.3%, its highest level since May 2002, and touched 5.36% last week, while the 30-year yield reached 5.73%.

Net interest payments on US government debt reached approximately $1.04 trillion in the 2026 fiscal year, equivalent to almost 19% of federal revenues.

Put simply, one in every five dollars collected in taxes now goes towards paying for yesterday’s borrowing.

Speaking in Bangkok, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that the United States could not grow its way out of its debt burden without tax adjustments or spending cuts.

The IMF’s Fiscal Monitor also warned that global public debt is on course to reach 100% of GDP by 2029.

The war in the Middle East is entering its eighth month, and the energy crisis is far from over. As a result, markets are pricing in interest rate increases rather than cuts by the US Federal Reserve.

For Greece, with its primary budget surpluses and steadily declining public debt, the lesson is painful but useful.

When major economies borrow at 5%, smaller countries cannot expect to borrow at 3%, regardless of how healthy their public finances may be.

Until now, governments had largely ignored continuously rising debt because servicing it was relatively inexpensive. Today, however, everyone is talking about the cost of debt.

Euronext turns to Greek shipping as Athens seeks a bigger role in maritime finance

An interesting meeting took place at the Piraeus Marine Club on Monday afternoon, focusing on financing Greek shipping and prompted by Star Bulk’s successful listing on Euronext Athens.

Those following the discussion could see, however, that the conversation extended well beyond a single successful stock market listing.

The contributions of Star Bulk chairman Spyros Kapralos and Hellenic Capital Market Commission chairwoman Vasiliki Lazarakou appeared to represent two parts of the same strategy.

Kapralos discussed the prospect of five to ten Greek shipping companies joining Euronext Athens.

Lazarakou, meanwhile, explained how the regulatory framework is being adapted to make it easier for companies already listed in New York to establish a stock market presence in Athens as well.

As became clear during the meeting on Akti Miaouli, the objective is no longer simply to attract a handful of additional shipping companies to the Greek exchange.

The bigger question is whether Euronext can harness the strength of Greek shipping to establish a new European centre for raising capital.

If the initiative gains momentum, Athens could potentially claim something it has lacked for decades: a meaningful share of the stock market activity generated by Greek shipowners themselves.

Petros Panagiotidis makes a €1.2 million-equivalent bet on VLCC tankers through Oslo

Greek shipowner Petros Panagiotidis may not yet have any very large crude carriers (VLCCs) in Robin Energy’s fleet, but he has ensured the company has an investment presence in the market for these enormous oil tankers.

Robin Energy participated in a private placement by newly established Volare Shipping, which is listed on Oslo’s Euronext Growth market, acquiring 90,000 shares at 154 Norwegian kroner apiece.

In total, the company invested 13.86 million Norwegian kroner, betting on a sector in which VLCC freight rates have surged.

The move is particularly interesting because Robin Energy currently operates just two LPG carriers.

The investment gives it indirect exposure to a different segment of the shipping industry without requiring it to purchase a crude oil tanker itself.

The question is whether this is purely a financial investment or the first step towards a broader strategy involving crude tankers.

Panagiotidis has certainly chosen his moment carefully.

With geopolitical instability reshaping oil shipping routes and putting pressure on available vessel capacity, VLCCs have become a major focus of investor interest.

And it appears the Greek shipowner has no intention of watching the freight-rate boom from the sidelines.

The ‘Green Patriarch’, the sea and a message from Heraklion’s port

An unusual gathering bringing together the Church, scientific community and shipping industry is scheduled for 12 November in Heraklion, Crete.

Held under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the event will focus on an issue of growing importance: protecting the seas and addressing the climate crisis.

The evening conference will be dedicated to the environmental vision of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has earned international recognition as the “Green Patriarch”.

Among those taking part will be Archbishop Eugenios of Crete, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne Ioannis Chryssavgis, National Technical University of Athens professor Antonia Moropoulou, Heraklion Port Authority chief executive Minas Papadakis and Nikos Kampanis of the Foundation for Research and Technology.

The participation of the port authority’s chief executive gives the discussion an important maritime dimension.

After all, the green transition is no longer solely the concern of environmentalists. It also directly affects those responsible for managing ports, ships and maritime infrastructure.

The event coincides with the 35th anniversary of Bartholomew’s election and enthronement.

The real question, however, is not simply what the gathering symbolises, but whether it can deliver something more substantial than expressions of goodwill towards cleaner seas.

There remains a considerable distance between declarations of intent and actual investment in green infrastructure.

Bank of America hit with $1.21 billion penalty in warning to global banking sector

The second-largest US bank admitted in writing yesterday that it had wilfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act, the legislation requiring financial institutions to monitor and report suspicious customer transactions.

The US Treasury Department imposed penalties totalling $1.21 billion on Bank of America.

It is the third-largest penalty in the department’s history and concerns approximately $5 billion in suspicious transactions that were not reported on time.

More than $1 billion of those transactions involved national security priorities, including Chinese money-laundering networks and financial flows linked to the US southwestern border, particularly drug trafficking.

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed a $1.2 billion penalty, including a credit for the $750 million penalty imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The OCC performs supervisory functions broadly comparable to those of Europe’s Single Supervisory Mechanism, which oversees banks’ financial soundness.

Another Treasury agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers sanctions relating to terrorism, drug trafficking and other activities, imposed an additional $11.66 million for 475 sanctions violations involving Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Somalia and other jurisdictions.

The OCC had already issued a compliance order in December 2024, but Bank of America had continued to “prioritise its revenues”.

In other words, the fees generated by correspondent banking accounts were treated as more important than conducting proper due diligence.

There is a political dimension to the decision as well.

An administration that has deregulated cryptocurrencies and relaxed capital requirements has chosen to take action against the country’s second-largest bank on precisely the two issues it has elevated to matters of national security: China and the US border.

Bank of America is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, rather than New York.

The $1.21 billion penalty therefore sends a warning to every bank in Europe and America engaged in US dollar clearing activities.