For the past three years, foreign money has been flooding out of Greece. But the tide may be turning. This week senior managers from Alpha, the country's third-largest bank, were in London and New York to raise private capital for a rights issue. Their roadshow is part of a much grander enterprise: the recapitalisation of an entire banking system. That became necessary once European rescuers decided in late 2011 that a second bail-out of Greece would require a big write-down of its public debt. The writedown brought the Greek banks low, because they held much of the debt. The bailout package included €50 billion ($65 billion) for the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (hfsf) in order to rebuild the banking system. Of this, €17 billion is covering losses in defunct banks. Another €5 billion is a reserve, in case more holes open up. Most of it, €27.5 billion, has been earmarked to recapitalise Greece's four biggest banks-Alpha, National Bank of Greece (nbg), Piraeus and Eurobank.
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