ATHENS: National Bank (NBG) , Greece’s second-largest lender by market value, concluded the sale of 500 million euros ($527.85 million) of subordinated Tier II bonds at a yield of 8%, it said late on Tuesday.

Total bids for the paper, which matures in 10 years and is callable in 5 years, topped 1.3 billion euros, the bank said in a statement.

Euro zone yields steady near recent multi-year highs

The issue is part of the lender’s strategy to improve its capital structure and boost its minimum required eligible liabilities (MREL), a supervisory requirement for banks, it added.

Barclays, Citi, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Societe Generale acted as joint bookrunners, NBG said.