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Financial & Banking
BNR: Banks want to moderately relax lending standards for consumer loans to the population
Monday, March 9, 2020
Banks could take in the first quarter of this year the decision to moderately relax lending standards in case of consumer loans granted to the population, shows a survey conducted by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) on lending to non-financial companies and to the population."In accordance with the estimates from the previous quarter, the credit institutions kept unchanged the conditions for lending to the population in Q4 2019, for both property purchase loans ...
Hidroelectrica, E.ON place best preliminary bids for CEZ assets in Romania
Monday, March 9, 2020
Czech utilities group CEZ has received preliminary financial offers evaluating its Romanian operations at EUR 1.1-1.3 ...
Leonardo Badea (BNR): The activity of financial institutions enters the “digital era”
Monday, March 9, 2020
The European Conference on Financial Services – ECFS 2020, organized by the Financial Studies Institute (ISF) and the Centre for Association of Insurance Arbitration and Mediation Center – ACAMA was held today in Brasov. Present at the conference, Leonardo Badea, the vice-governor of the Romanian National Bank (BNR), talked about the digitalization of the financial sector, consumer experience, fintechs, machine learning, among other talking ...
DIY retailer Dedeman buy 5% stake in Purcari winemaker
Monday, March 9, 2020
Paval Holding, the investment vehicle of Adrian and Dragos Paval - the owners of local do-it-yourself retailer Dedeman, has become a significant shareholder in Purcari Wineries, the only wine producer listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The holding has bought 1 million shares, representing over 5% of the company’s capital. The stake is worth RON 22.8 million (EUR 4.8 mln), based on the current share price. The timing ...
Only one in five RO homes are insured against earthquake
Monday, March 9, 2020
Only one out of five Romanian’s 9 million homes are insured [against earthquakes] although earthquakes represent the second risk that Romanians are worried about when it comes to their homes (57%), after fires (65%), according to a study carried by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES) for UNSAR to mark 43 years since the 1977 earthquake. However, according to the study, seven out of ten Romanians declare that they are ...
BNR: Monetary indicators – January 2020
Monday, March 2, 2020
At end-January 2020, broad money (M3) amounted to RON 419,528.8 million, down 0.7 percent (down 1.1 percent in real terms) month on month. In year-on-year comparison, broad money rose by 9.7 percent (5.8 percent in real terms), Romanian Central Bank (BNR) data show. At end-January 2020, loans to non-government sector granted by credit institutions grew 0.8 percent (0.4 percent in real terms) from December 2019 to RON ...
Erste Group posts 8.7% hike in operating result to EUR 2.97 billion in 2019
Monday, March 2, 2020
"Our annual operating result of nearly 3 billion euros, which is a significant increase of 8.7 percent, proves Erste is really fit at its core. This is quite rare in European banking at the moment – and gives us a strong foundation for future growth," says Bernhard Spalt, CEO of Erste Group Bank AG. “Thanks to our footprint, we’re active in the economically most dynamic region in Europe, with CEE countries posting GDP growth ...
BVB index down 10% last week amid Covid-9 sell-off
Monday, March 2, 2020
The main index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), BET, dropped by nearly 10% last week amid the investors’ concerns about the impact of the Covid-19 virus on the global economy, which determined a sell-off on major international markets. The BET recorded its steepest decline on Friday, February 28, when it lost 4.6%, as the Romanian authorities announced that two other cases of coronavirus infections were confirmed in the ...
Banca Transilvania posts 2019 net profit up 33pct
Monday, March 2, 2020
Banca Transilvania posted a net profit of 1.621 billion lei last year, up 32.93pct compared to 2018, according to preliminary financial results published on Thursday.Banca Transilvania Financial Group reported a consolidated net profit of 1.848 billion lei last year, up 46.59pct compared to 2018."The operating profit of Banca Transilvania (BT) increased to 2,131.87 million lei due to the efficiency and consolidation of the business. The BT Board of ...
Government obtains additional dividends from Enel worth 502 mln RON
Monday, March 2, 2020
The Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, through the Energy Participation Management Company (SAPE), negotiated the obtainment of over 100 million euro (approximately 502 million RON) as extra dividend from three companies in the Enel Group, in which SAPE is a minority shareholder, a release of the ministry sent on Thursday to AGERPRES shows.At the end of February, approximately 95 pct of the amount was wired to the SAPE accounts.The ...
BNR: Romanian banks probed for money laundering
Monday, March 2, 2020
Romania’s National Bank (BNR) is probing 16 - 17 banks involved in a “rather awkward transaction" related to money laundering, Nicolae Cintez?, the head of the central bank’s supervisory department, announced on Wednesday, in a financial conference. “At least one of the banks is involved in favoring money laundering,” he stated, quoted ...
Study: Over 51% of the Romanians admit they had misunderstandings in the couple due to money
Monday, March 2, 2020
Over 51% of the Romanians admit they had misunderstandings in the couple due to money, and among the interviewees the most frequent reasons are too high expenses or meanness, shows a research made by the Banca Comerciala Romana, through the School for Money.The study ‘ money in the couple’ shows that the Romanians prefer to keep their money joint (67%), to manage together the family budget (77%) even though only 41% have joint economy ...
Major changes to the RCA, voted in the Senate
Monday, March 2, 2020
The Romanian Senate’s budget and finance committee endorsed the draft law that provisions, among others, the introduction of a benchmark for the fees charged by auto services for repairs covered by mandatory insurance contracts (third party liability or RCA), which are paid by the insurance firms on the behalf of their customers. The bill is significantly improving the existing legal provisions in favor of the insurance companies, which have been ...
EC: Romania’s budget deficit could hit 6.1% next year
Monday, March 2, 2020
The European Commission will recommend that the EU Council opens the excessive deficit procedure against Romania, EC executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis said on Wednesday, February 26. “In Romania, the deficit was above 3% of GDP in 2019 and is expected to stay above 3% both this year and next. This reflects the longstanding build-up of fiscal imbalances as a result of pro-cyclical strongly expansionary fiscal policy since 2016. That's ...
Eurostat: Romania - above EU average by environmental tax share of total tax revenue
Monday, February 24, 2020
The environmental taxes collected in 2018 by the Romanian state amounted to 4.239 billion euros, accounting for 7.95 percent of total revenue from taxes and social contributions; this marked an increase from 3.674 billion euros, or 7.85 percent of total revenue from taxes and contributions in 2017, shows data released Wednesday by the EU's office for statistics, Eurostat.Environmental tax revenues in the European Union totalled 324.6 billion euros in 2018, which ...
PM Orban: PNL won't give up flat tax
Monday, February 24, 2020
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban stated he is "the defender of the flat tax," adding that PNL (National Liberal Party – at rule) will never give up the flat tax."I am the defender of the flat tax, which for me is the foundation of a Liberal economy. PNL will never give up the flat tax," stated Ludovic Orban on Thursday, while leaving from the event AMCHAM CEO FORUM, when he was asked whether the Liberal government considered introducing a progressive tax or ...
Fitch confirmed the Garanti Bank Romania rating at ‘BB minus’ with stable perspective
Monday, February 24, 2020
Fitch Ratings confirmed the rating for long term debts of Garanti Bank Romania at ‘BB minus’with stable perspective,and the viability rating at ‘ bb minus’,shows a press releaseof the financial evaluation agency.‘ The long term ratings of Garanti Bank are supported by its individual profile,as it is reflected in its viability rating. The viability rating reflects the limited measure of the bank and the franchise of Romania, the ...
Credits for small companies with SME Initiative guaranty in UniCredit Bank offer
Monday, February 24, 2020
UniCredit Bank offers small and medium companies access to financing that benefits 60% of guaranty through SME Initiative for small companies, a guaranty instrument accessed by UniCredit Bank from the European Union, according to a bank press release. Transactions benefit from EU support through the program Initiative for small companies financed by EU through FEDR and Horizon 2020 and by the European Investment Fund and the European Investment ...
Govt.-backed home purchase program kicks off in Romania
Monday, February 24, 2020
Romania’s loan guarantee fund for small and medium sized enterprises (FNGCIMM), the body that manages the guarantees extended by the Government to individuals contracting mortgage loans under the Prima Casa (First Home) program, announced the launch of the program’s 2020 round. The Government approved on February 4 guarantees of nearly RON 2 billion (EUR 419 mln) for the program. The terms of the program have not changed from past years. ...
ASF to withdraw the operating license of Certasig company
Monday, February 24, 2020
The board of Romania’s financial market regulatory body - ASF decided to withdraw the functioning authorization of local insurer Certasig because the company hasn’t increased the level of own funds in line with the minimum capital requirements (MCR) within the deadline provided by law. At the same time, the ASF board ascertained the insolvency status of Certasig and decided to initiate legal steps to open the bankruptcy proceedings against ...