HABA’s Special Panel on the US Economy

The Hellenic American Bankers Association (HABA), one of the premier Greek-American organizations in the New York metropolitan area, hosted recently the annual Panel Discussion on the US Economy, featuring Charles Anastasiou, from Wachovia Securities, Dr. Constantine Soras, from Verizon, and Demetri Papacostas from Bloomberg.

The event took place at the First American Title New York City headquarters and drew a host of people from the greater banking sector who had the opportunity to also address questions to the speakers. HABA President James Hansel introduced the guests and reminded the participants of the organization’s mission and accomplishments.

Dr. Constantine G. Soras has more than 25 years of experience in economic forecasting, industry and competitive analysis, financial analysis and planning, mergers & acquisitions, quantitative analysis and consulting. He has worked for various multi-billion dollar corporations, which include Merrill Lynch, Chemical Bank and Verizon Communications. Currently, he is a Senior Staff Consultant responsible for the review and analysis of investment proposals for mergers and acquisitions, dispositions and development. Also provides economic analysis at the request of CEO and CFO. Named most accurate U.S. economic forecaster for 2005 by Business Week he was the third best U.S. economic forecaster for 2006. His real GDP growth for 2006 was right on the money.

Demetri Papacostas has extensive experience in developing and running profitable FX & Derivative businesses. His experience is focused on FX derivative products, in trading, structuring and selling to large and small corporations as well as to individual investors. He recently joined Bloomberg as an FX Derivative Product specialist.

Prior to Bloomberg, Mr. Papacostas was at JPMorgan where he ran the Commercial Bank FX sales team in New York. As a Managing Director and Head of Currency Derivative Sales, Mr. Papacostas created a profitable FX derivative sales business to compliment a top tier trading operation.

Mr. Anastasiou has 30 years of experience in the financial industry and has experienced several market cycles. Currently he is a "Premier Advisor" with Wachovia Securities where he holds the title of Managing Director of Investments. He and his team manage a portfolio of several hundred million dollars, primarily in private client assets. Prior to the merger with Wachovia, he was at Prudential Securities where he served on the Chairman's and President's Council for many years. He has been a frequent speaker at Prudential and Wachovia regional meetings Mr. Anastasiou has sat on various Boards of Directors and Boards of Trustees, including Muhlenberg Hospital, Cyprus Children's Fund and the Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church.

The Hellenic American Bankers Association, Inc. (H.A.B.A.) is one of the premier Greek-American organizations in the New York metropolitan area. HABA is a not-for-profit organization established in 1982 to promote the professional and educational interest of Greek-Americans in the banking and finance industries. Its current active membership consists of over 200 professionals representing more than 50 institutions across the financial spectrum. For more information on HABA the website is www.haba.org.

©2009 NEOCORP MEDIA

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