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Financial & Banking
BNR: Balance of payments and external debt – December 2018
Monday, February 18, 2019
In January - December 2018p, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 9,416 million, compared with EUR 5,970 million in January – December 2017, the central bank (BNR) says. The deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 2,628 million, the surplus on services income narrowed by EUR 102 million, the deficit of the primary income balance increased by EUR 322 million, and the surplus of the secondary income balance decreased by EUR 394 ...
Romania’s unusual bank tax risks curtailing central bank independence, says European credit rating agency
Monday, February 18, 2019
Romania’s central bank has a vital role to play in using its independence to protect the domestic economy from uncertainty created by the government’s unorthodox new bank tax, says Scope Ratings quoted by romaniajournal.ro/. The Social Democrat government’s new levy on the balance sheet of banks active in Romania comes into play when money market rates exceed 2%. Interbank rates typically reflect changes in the central bank’s ...
Marc Rey appointed new general director of BRD Finance IFN
Monday, February 18, 2019
Marc Rey, the former deputy general director of BRD Finance IFN (non-financial institution) has been promoted to general director. The position was previously held by Eric Dhoste, who ended his term but remains on the Board of Administration of the branch specialized in consumption loans. Rey has been working in the Société Générale Group for 29 years and came to BRD Finance in September 2015 as deputy general director, ...
BNR prepares for no-deal Brexit: UK banks will be treated as third-country entities, their activity on the local market will cease on March 30
Monday, February 18, 2019
The National Bank of Romania (BNR) has made plans for a no-deal Brexit at the end of March and warned that the UK banks will be treated as third-country entities in this scenario and their activity on the local market will cease on March 30, 2019. On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom notified its intention to withdraw from the European Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, following the pro-Brexit ...
Banca Transilvania joins Morphosis Capital’s fund dedicated to SMEs
Monday, February 18, 2019
Banca Transilvania, the biggest bank in Romania in terms of assets, has joined Morphosis Capital, a fund founded by Romanian entrepreneurs dedicated to local small and medium enterprises (SME). Last year, Morphosis Capital launched MC Fund I (MCFI), having as an anchor investor the European Investment Fund (EIF), through the Regional Operational Program, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Morphosis Capital ...
BNR's Isarescu: A monetary council would probably need an exchange rate of at least 7-8 lei
Monday, February 18, 2019
A monetary council would probably neede an exchange rate of at least 7-8 lei in Romania's case, governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), Mugur Isarescu, stated on Monday, while mentioning that such council is only set up in crisis situations."And there was another confusion! A serious one! And I guess it was him again [adviser to PM, Darius Valcov - editor's note] who posted it on the Website of the ruling party, when the exchange rate was under pressure. ...
Aforti Exhange ended 2018 with EUR 67 M currency transactions, aims EUR 200 M turnover this yea
Monday, February 18, 2019
Aforti Exchange, a foreign exchange platform based in Poland, has closed 2018, its first full year of activity in Romania, having intermediated EUR 67 million worth of currency transactions. The result, triple the initial expectation, was supported by a very strong 4th quarter as the company processed transactions worth EUR 33 million, double compared to the 3rd quarter. For 2019, Aforti Exchange Romania targets turnover of EUR 200 million, expecting the growth to ...
Cryptocurrency fraud dismantled in Romania by Police and US Secret Agents
Monday, February 18, 2019
Over 100 Romanian police officers and US Secret Service agents raided several addresses in Bucharest and 9 counties as part of a large-scale action to destroy a specialized computer fraud organization that caused damages worth USD 34 million. As a part of the operation, for the first time ever, Romanian authorities have made cryptocurrencies Ripple and Bitcoin unavailable. According to an IGPR statement, following a ...
NBR Board decisions on monetary policy
Monday, February 11, 2019
In its meeting of 7 February 2019, the Board of the National Bank of Romania decided: to keep the monetary policy rate at 2.50 percent per annum; to leave unchanged the deposit facility rate at 1.50 percent per annum and the lending facility rate at 3.50 percent per annum; to maintain the existing levels of minimum reserve requirement ratios on both leu- and ...
Winter 2019 Economic Forecast: growth moderates amid global uncertainties
Monday, February 11, 2019
Brussels, 7 February 2019 The European economy is expected to grow for the seventh year in a row in 2019, with expansion forecast in every Member State. The pace of growth overall is projected to moderate compared to the high rates of recent years and the outlook is subject to large uncertainty. Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, ...
Analysis: Romanian currency is a victim of the government but it could post small short-term rebound if the new measures are scaled back
Monday, February 11, 2019
The Romanian currency proves to be another victim of the government but it could post a small short-term rebound if the government decides to scale back on its new measures, according to a Ebury Romania analysis. „The depreciation was a direct result of the government’s decision to introduce the so-called ‘tax on greed’ and the change in sentiment towards the country’s assets that followed. Markets are not fond of the tax ...
BRD posts RON 1.55 bln net profit in 2018, up 12 pct
Monday, February 11, 2019
BRD – Groupe Societe Generale, the third bank in Romania in terms of assets, has registered last year a total net profit of RON 1.55 billion (EUR 332 million), up 12 percent compared with 2017, on higher interest income, http://business-review.eu informs. BRD, controlled by the French financial group Societe Gnerale, said on Thursday that its total assets rose by 1.1 percent between December 2017 and ...
IFC and Garanti Bank Romania: New Report Shows Impact of Boosting Finance for Women Entrepreneurs
Monday, February 11, 2019
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Garanti Bank Romania launched a joint report today highlighting the importance and impact of increasing access to finance for the country’s women entrepreneurs. “Taking Women Entrepreneurs to the Bank in Romania”, shows the impact of Garanti Bank Romania’s Women SME Banking Program. The bank has loaned over €145 million to women-owned enterprises, as of end- December 2017, with ...
Sergiu Oprescu to lead Alpha Bank’s International Network across four countries
Monday, February 11, 2019
Alpha Bank has consolidated its Executive Committee structure by naming Sergiu Oprescu as the General Manager of International Network and Nikos Salakas as the General Manager, Chief Legal and Governance Officer. Both positions will have a seat at Alpha Bank’s Executive Committee and will report directly to CEO Vassilis Psaltis. Sergiu Oprescu will oversee Alpha Bank’s subsidiaries in four countries as well as the international branches, ...
Banca Transilvania climbs by almost 50 places in the 2019 Brand Finance Banking 500
Monday, February 11, 2019
Banca Transilvaniahas climbed almost 50 places in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2019 ranking published by The Banker on Monday. The survey points to a 39% increase for Banca Transilvania, the ...
Romania’s road to the eurozone: Objectives, scenarios and obstacles
Monday, February 11, 2019
Romanian authorities have published the Explanatory report for the national plan to adopt the euro currency, after a delay of over a month, http://business-review.eu reports. The 45 decision-makers from all the socio-economic layers who are part of the Euro commission claim that, depending on Romania’s economic development, the country could enter the exchange rates mechanism (ERM), a phase that precedes the switch to the ...
Central Bank: International reserves – January 2019
Monday, February 4, 2019
On 31 January 2019, the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR 31,922 million, compared to EUR 33,065 million on 31 December 2018. During the month, the following flows were recorded: EUR 1,572 million worth of inflows representing changes in credit institutions’ foreign currency-denominated required reserves, inflows into the Ministry of Public Finance’s accounts, inflows into the European Commission’s account ...
Study: More than half of Romanians still prefer buying insurance policies offline
Monday, February 4, 2019
When it comes to online financial services, more than half of Romanian internet users (54 percent) continue to be conservative, as they prefer more direct contact for the purchase of this type of service, according to the third edition of the quantitative study “Digital Evolution: Connected Consumer Monitor” (National Representative sample of 1,123 respondents, Internet users, 18-65 years old), conducted by EXACT Business Solutions in November 2018, ...
Vienna Insurance Group launches its first corporate start-up, the ‘viesure innovation center’
Monday, February 4, 2019
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has launched its first internal corporate start-up, the “viesure innovation center” (viesure), http://business-review.eu reports. Managed by VIG’s largest Group company, Wiener Städtische Versicherung, the new company will focus on emerging trends in customer service. The start-up will be based at the “Talent Garden Vienna”, the city’s newest innovation hotspot, and will also ...
Private pensions association warns recent reforms of Romania’s Pillar II system could have “devastating” effects
Monday, February 4, 2019
PensionsEurope and its Romanian Member Association (APAPR) expressed deep concerns about the reform of the Romanian mandatory second pillar pension system introduced by the government at the end of December 2018. The reform, which envisages new disproportionate capital requirements for pension funds, is described by PensionsEurope as “highly political and devastating for the Romanian pension ...