Financial & Banking
CEC Bank - TAROM partnership to be signed
Monday, November 6, 2023
CEC Bank is signing a partnership with TAROM, which will provide payment acceptance services for bank cards issued under the Visa and Mastercard logos, by taking over the settlement of card transactions carried out on international markets, which has so far been carried out by a bank outside Romania, the bank announced on Monday."Two traditional Romanian brands have decided to join hands to sign a partnership in the area of card transactions. Our bank is an important player, ...
BCR Group, net profit of 1.698 billion RON in first nine months
Monday, November 6, 2023
BCR Group posted a net profit of 1.698 billion RON (343.8 million EUR) in the first nine months of this year, up 10.3% compared to the same period in 2022, on the back of improved operational performance underpinned by a higher volume in customer business, the bank announced on Monday.In the first nine months of 2022, BCR Group posted a net profit of 1.539 billion RON (312 million EUR).According to the bank, general administrative expenses amounted to ...
Intesa Sanpaolo expands into Romania with First Bank acquisition
Monday, November 6, 2023
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA has concluded negotiations for the acquisition of First Bank in Romania from the American investment fund J.C. Flowers, according to market sources. Some of First Bank’s employees have already been informed about this transaction through an internal communication. Marco Elio Rottigni, Head of the International Subsidiary Banks Division at Intesa Sanpaolo, stated, “We welcome First Bank’s employees and customers to the ...
New loans granted by banks exceed 410 billion RON, January 2020 - August 2023
Monday, November 6, 2023
New corporate and retail loans granted by Romanian banks amounted to more than 410 billion RON, January 2020 to August 2023, which is equivalent to 29% of Romania's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2022, the Romanian Banks Association (ARB) announced on Thursday.The volume of new loans granted to the population and companies in 3 years and 8 months since the start of the pandemic exceeds by 8.25% the balance of non-government credit recorded at the end of August 2023, of ...
CEC Bank and Exim Banca Romaneasca finance Pet Star Holding
Monday, November 6, 2023
CEC Bank granted a financing of around 4 million euros to the Pet Star Holding company, one of the most important producers of PET preforms in Romania and the Balkan area, in terms of production volume and variety of formats.According to a statement from the bank, sent on Wednesday, the financing benefits from a state guarantee granted by Exim Banca Romaneasca within the state aid scheme in the context of the economic crisis generated by Russia's aggression ...
Fitch Places Romanian UniCredit Bank S.A.'s VR on RWP on Announced Merger
Monday, November 6, 2023
Fitch Ratings has placed Romanian UniCredit Bank S.A.'s (UCBRO) 'bb' Viability Rating (VR) on Rating Watch Positive (RWP). The bank's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been affirmed at 'BBB' with a Stable Outlook. The rating actions follow the announcement on 24 October 2023 by UniCredit S.p.A. (UC; BBB/Stable), majority shareholder of UCBRO, that it has reached an initial agreement to merge UCBRO with Alpha Bank Romania S.A. (ABR), owned by ...
BRD Group posts 20.8 pct higher nine-month net profit of 1.227 bln RON
Monday, November 6, 2023
BRD Group's nine-month net profit amounted to 1.227 billion RON, up 20.8 percent compared to 1.016 billion RON in the same period of 2022, and the return on equity (ROE) increased to 20.9 percent from 16.7 percent in the year-ago period, the bank announced on Friday.The increase in BRD Group's net lending (including leasing receivables) as of end-September stood in the double-digit realm, at 10 percent year-over-year.In the retail segment, the balance of net ...
Profit of Raiffeisen Bank Romania, up by 45 pct in first nine months, to 1.3 billion RON
Monday, November 6, 2023
Raiffeisen Bank Romania recorded a profit of 1.3 billion RON in the first nine months, up 45% compared to the same period last year, the bank announced on Friday.According to the quoted source, the bank recorded total assets of 67.5 billion RON in the first nine months, up 9% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, operating expenses increased by 11% year on year, mainly from personnel, IT and logistics costs.The savings of Raiffeisen Bank ...
PayU GPO Romania: 46% of all processed transactions are made with a previously saved card
Monday, November 6, 2023
In the first 9 months of this year, PayU GPO Romania, the leader of local online payment market, registered a 25% increase in processed volumes, compared to the reference interval of 2022. From the point of view of the number of transactions it registered 18% more transactions than in the same period last year. The volume of payments made through a single click has an accelerated pace of adoption among online ...
Mastercard introduces the free shopping insurance
Monday, November 6, 2023
Mastercard is launching a new benefit for Mastercard Standard credit cardholders issued in Romania – the free insurance for online and in-store purchases. The insurance provides protection in situations where goods purchased with an eligible Mastercard card become unusable due to theft, accidental damage, manufacturing defects or other unforeseen circumstances, without the need for prior enrollment. “Whether we’re talking about online or in-store ...
Csaba Bálint, CFA, BNR Board Member, at Strategica International Conference Managing „Business Transformations during Uncertain Times”
Monday, October 30, 2023
Distinguished guests,Ladies and gentlemen, Allow me to extend a warm welcome at the National Bank of Romania (BNR) for the 11th edition of Strategica International Conference titled “Managing Business Transformations during Uncertain Times”. As we ...
EIF And Leading Romanian Banks Join Forces To Empower SMEs For Sustainable Growth
Monday, October 30, 2023
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed agreements with five banks to support Romania’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The series of uncapped direct guarantees totalling €1 billion is backed by the InvestEU Member State Compartment in Romania and the Recovery and Resilience Facility Romania (RRF RO) and represents an ambitious venture aimed at enhancing sustainability and competitiveness for businesses across the ...
NN Romania Appoints Eszter Martin a? the New Chief HR Officer
Monday, October 30, 2023
Eszter Martin is the new Chief HR Officer of NN Romania starting November 15, succeeding Meliha Yardim who has taken the Chief HR Officer role in NN Spain. Eszter Martin joins NN Romania after four years as Chief HR Officer in NN Hungary, where she significantly contributed to the organization’s transformation into the first full agile insurance company in Hungary and to consolidating its attractive employer ...
Mastercard:The digital payments market level in Romania, rated at 56 out of 100 points
Monday, October 30, 2023
The development of digital payments in Romania scored 56 out of 100 points in 2022, according to the Digital Payments Index (DPI), an analysis tool developed by Mastercard. The result is calculated based on the individual scores registered by three sub-indexes, each with equal share in the final score: 70 for Infrastructure, 55 for Knowledge and 44 for Usage, and indicates a slight increase compared to 2021. “In ...
UniCredit and Alpha Bank announce merger in Romania and strategic partnership in Greece
Monday, October 30, 2023
* Merger of Alpha Bank Romania and UniCredit Bank Romania and creation of third largest bank in Romania by total assets, with Alpha Bank retaining a 9.9% stake. Alpha Services and Holdings S.A., 100% parent of Alpha Bank S.A. (“Alpha Bank”), and UniCredit have agreed the key economic terms for the merger of UniCredit Bank S.A. (“UniCredit Bank Romania”) with Alpha Bank ...
FX Market Outlook for 2024: What should Romanian SMEs expect from the local currency and forex market
Monday, October 30, 2023
In its 2024 Foreign Exchange Market Outlook released this ...
Eurohold to sue Romania for €500 million over ‘hostile takeover’
Monday, October 30, 2023
Bulgarian insurer Eurohold made public its intention on Thursday (26 October) to sue Romania to the tune of €500 million if the case of the “hostile takeover” of Euroins, its Romanian unit, is not solved to the satisfaction of the Bulgarian side, ...
Eight out of ten companies consider it is important to benefit from advisory services during tax raids
Monday, October 30, 2023
A survey commissioned by Nowium, a major provider of integrated fiscal and legal consulting services, revealed that 82% of companies see advice during tax raids as being important or very important. However, only 53% of companies actally employ such services during inspections. Company representatives consider the time and resources allocated as the main source of concern during these ...
Minutes of the monetary policy meeting of the National Bank of Romania Board on 5 October 2023
Monday, October 23, 2023
Publishing date: 19 October 2023 The National Bank of Romania Board members present at the meeting: Mugur Isarescu, Chairman of the Board and Governor of the National Bank of Romania; Florin Georgescu, Vice Chairman of the Board and First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania; Leonardo Badea, Board member and Deputy Governor of the ...
Press release of the National Committee for Macroprudential Oversight
Monday, October 23, 2023
2023-Oct-19 This year’s third meeting of the General Board of the National Committee for Macroprudential Oversight (NCMO) was held on 19 October 2023. During the meeting, Board members examined analyses and adopted measures concerning macroprudential policy and systemic risk, namely: (i) examining the regular ...