Piraeus in the lavish northern suburbs of Athens, many shipowners have opted once again to move their bases away from Piraeus to Northern Athens. Piraeus, nevertheless, is still a major centre for Greek and international shipping, and bi-annually acts as the focus for a major shipping convention, known as Posidonia, which attracts maritime industry professionals from all over the world. Piraeus today is one of the largest ports in Europe, and the annual number of 19 million passengers makes it the third largest worldwide in terms of passenger transportation. Piraeus is currently Greece's third-busiest port in terms of tons of goods
Piraeus Bank c.30k). As of March 2018, the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund holds 26% of outstanding common shares, while the remaining 74% is held by the private sector (legal entities and individuals). Piraeus Bank is a universal bank providing various banking services. Historically a bank supportive of SMEs it now also possesses particular know-how in the areas of agricultural banking, consumer and mortgage credit, green banking, capital markets, investment banking, leasing and electronic banking. Piraeus Bank and its subsidiaries form the Piraeus Bank Group. A group of shipowners in Piraeus founded "Banque du Pirée" (Piraeus Bank; BP) in 1916 to finance trade.