Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- National Bank of Greece SA, the nation’s biggest lender, completed a sale of 1 billion euros of preference shares to boost capital.

“National Bank today completed the rights issue of 1 billion euros through the issue of preference shares to the Greek state,” Greg Papagrigoris, head of investor relations at Athens-based National said in a phone interview today. “On the basis of Sept. 30 2011 figures, the Core Tier 1 ratio now exceeds 11 percent.”

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