During
World War II in 1942, the Italian authorities forcibly acquired the Ionian Bank's holdings in Popular Bank. At the end of the War, the Ionian Bank regained its holdings. The Ionian Bank had provided cover for British Intelligence, and two of its directors,
Bickham Sweet-Escott and
Robin Brook, had belonged to
MI6. Be that as it may, all British and French banks were
nationalized by Egypt at the same time. The loss of the Egyptian activity marked a turning point for the Ionian Bank. In 1957,
Emporiki Bank acquired all operations of Ionian Bank and of its subsidiary Popular Bank in Greece, then merged the former into the latter which was renamed Ionian and Popular Bank, which thus became the third-largest bank in Greece with a nationwide network of 24 branches. The Cyprus operations were sold to the
Chartered Bank. In 1975, the Ionian and Popular Bank was placed under government supervision, as was the entire Emporiki group. In 1986, Ionian and Popular Bank reverted to using "Ionian Bank" as its brand identity. In 1988 it opened an office in London. which in 2006 was acquired by
Abu Dhabi's
Union National Bank. The branch later came under operation by
Qatar National Bank, which reopened it in 2023 following renovation. ==See also==