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Financial & Banking
Marfin Bank becomes Vista Bank
Monday, May 27, 2019
Marfin Bank Romania, part of the Vardinogiannis Group, is changing name into Vista Bank Romania, one of the last step of a thorough process of business strengthening which included capital increase of 30 million euro in last September, enlargement of the management team, and refreshing ...
BNR Board decisions on monetary policy
Monday, May 20, 2019
In its meeting of 15 May 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 ...
Isarescu: Don't expect IRCC to work miracles and do everyone justice; ROBOR unjustly vilified
Monday, May 20, 2019
Because of its role as loan benchmark, the interbank offered rate ROBOR has been vilified and you should not expect the Consumer Credit Reference Index (IRCC) to work miracles and do everyone justice, governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu said in a press briefing on Wednesday."Because of its role as loan indicator, the ROBOR has been simply vilified. Any indicator has value as long as it is credible, but if you tread on it and punch it all ...
ARB: the new IRCC too broad a mixture with no connection with the market
Monday, May 20, 2019
Whereas the interbank offered rate ROBOR was correlated with medium-term lending, just like a single fruit jam, the new Consumer Credit Reference Index (IRCC) is a sort of marmalade of an unknown fruit mix, an index calculated based on overnight transactions which has no connection with the market, executive president of the Romanian Banking Association (ARB) Florin Danescu declared on Wednesday at the Financial Market Forum."Explaining the ROBOR and the IRCC is ...
Finance Ministry to capitalize CEC Bank by RON 900m
Monday, May 20, 2019
The Finance Ministry will transfer RON 900 million to the CEC Bank for capitalization, immediately after receiving the go-ahead from the European ...
ING Bank Romania registers 16% income advance in Q1
Monday, May 20, 2019
ING Bank Romania announced on Tuesday, that it recorded a 16% advance of incomes in the first quarter, against the same period of 2018, to 491 million lei (103.1 million euro) in the conditions of increases in the customer base, as in their activity. Moreover, the bank announced that general director Michal Szczurek will take over a new position in the Dutch financial group ING. Gross profit is 222 million lei, 4% more compared to the same period of ...
ECB asks Romanian authorities to consult it on future bills related to the National Bank of Romania
Monday, May 20, 2019
The European Central Bank (ECB) has recently sent Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea a letter cautioning that the national authorities are required to consult the ECB on the legislative proposals that fall under its scope of competence, regulations on national central banks included.The letter signed by Yves Mersch, member of the ECB Executive Board, and published on the institution's website, refers to the fact that on April 24, 2019 the Parliament ...
Patria Bank reports losses of 2.29 million lei in Q1
Monday, May 20, 2019
Patria Bank (PBK), the result of the merger between former Carpatica Commercial Bank and former Patria Bank, reported losses of 2.29 million lei in the first quarter, compared to a negative result of 19.01 million lei in the same period of 2018. Overall incomes from exploitation were 39.59 million lei, compared to 30.87 million lei in the same period of 2018, according to the report sent to Bucharest Stock Exchange ...
IFC invests in Romania’s first cover bond issue to increase mortgage lending
Monday, May 20, 2019
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, was a key investor with a EUR 50 million investment in the first covered bond issuance in Romania. The first-ever and five-year maturity covered bond will support the development of the capital markets and pave the way for other issuers to use a new financial instrument to provide long-term financing in Romania. Covered bonds are a critical tool for mortgage lending in more developed markets as it allows mortgage ...
OTP Bank Romania releases financial results for the first quarter of 2019
Monday, May 20, 2019
OTP Group has announced the financial results for the first quarter of 2019. According to the report published in Budapest, which presents the consolidated results adjusted in accordance with the Group´s standards, OTP Bank Romania has registered an after -tax profit of RON 18,3 million (HUF 1,23 billion). The quarterly profit level is 19% under the result registered in the first quarter of 2018. The Bank reported a 29% increase for operating ...
BR Analysis. Loans become more expensive this year in Romania eroding purchasing power, profits
Monday, May 20, 2019
Romanian business environment and households are hit by surging borrowing costs as interest rates rose quickly during the first three months of this year, despite government’s measures aiming to cap borrowing costs, eroding the profits of companies and the purchasing power of indebted persons. Fresh central bank data suggest that government’s measures like “greed tax” had no effect on real interest ...
Alpha Bank successfully places its first ever EUR 200 mln covered bond issue in Romania
Monday, May 20, 2019
Alpha Bank Romania has successfully placed its EUR 200 million euro-denominated covered bond issue, the first ever from a Romanian bank. The bond, which has a five-year maturity and pays a floating rate coupon, is backed by prime Romanian residential mortgages and is rated (P) Baa2 by Moody’s. The transaction attracted strong investor interest from both local and international institutional investors, including the IFC and ...
Council of the EU adopts measures to reduce banking sector risks
Monday, May 20, 2019
The Council of the European Union adopted on Tuesday a comprehensive legislative package which will reduce risks in the banking sector and further reinforce the banks' ability to withstand potential shocks, a release informs.The package contains amendments to the capital requirement legislation (Regulation 575/2013 and Directive 2013/36/EU) which reinforce the capital and liquidity positions of banks, and strengthens the framework for the recovery and resolution ...
Opening speech at the 16th meeting of the Financial Stability Board Regional Consultative Group for Europe
Monday, May 13, 2019
Mugur Isarescu, NBR Governor Distinguished guests,Dear colleagues,Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, I am pleased to welcome you to Romania and to the National Bank of Romania (NBR), for the Sixteenth meeting of the Financial Stability Board Regional Consultative Group for Europe. We are delighted to be able to host such a meeting. Looking ...
AAFBR: IRCC will be equal to ROBOR in one or two years
Monday, May 13, 2019
Loan installments paid by Romanians should fall by 5-10 percent between May and June by applying the new Consumer Credit Reference Index (IRCC) instead of old ROBOR and by 2-3 percent in July, but over one year or two the IRCC will be comparable to ROBOR, said Iancu Guda, president of the Association of Banking and Financial Analysts of Romania (AAFBR) . “Based on the IV quarter, 2018, calculations, the IRCC ...
Transylvania Bank and Victoriabank grant first cross border union credit Romania-Moldova
Monday, May 13, 2019
Transylvania Bank and Victoriabank announced on Tuesday, that they granted the first cross border union credit Romania-Moldova, of 21 million euro, for the commercial center Shopping MallDova. The commercial center is developed by the company Lemi Invest, a joint venture between Fiba Holding and Summa Turizm Yatirimciligi , a Victoriabank client for 10 years. Shopping MallDova is the first commercial center at European level in ...
Tax amnesty: 600,000 tax payers, exempts to mount to RON 1 bln
Monday, May 13, 2019
The tax amnesty emergency draft, asked by PM Dancila, is currently under public discussion, with 600,000 tax payers to benefit of the cancellation of the social contributions owed to the state, mounting to RON 1.035 billion. The draft GEO released by the Finance Ministry today also stipulated the VAT cut for traditional and organic food. The negative budgetary impact here is mounting to RON 106 million this year. As for the VAT cut for these ...
Government plans to cut VAT for organic food to 5 pct
Monday, May 13, 2019
The government plans to cut the value-added tax (VAT) for organic & traditional food products from 9 percent to 5 percent, a measure that coud boost a sector that is still undeveloped in the eastern European country. The government estimates that the measure will have an impact on ...
Garanti Group Romania posted a net profit of over RON 140 million in 2018
Monday, May 13, 2019
Garanti Group Romania, which brings together Garanti Bank, Garanti Leasing and Garanti Consumer Finance, registered a consolidated net profit of RON 140.3 million in 2018, reaching an asset size of RON 11.79 billion. On solo basis, Garanti Bank posted a net profit of RON 113.3 million. The bank’s business strategy of focusing on organic development and growing a healthy and balanced portfolio led to a loan volume of RON 7.13 billion and an ...
Banca Transilvania Group reports 30 pct rise in net profit in Q1 2019
Monday, May 13, 2019
Banca Transilvania Group, the largest financial group in Romania, closed the first quarter of 2019 with a net profit of RON 507.5 million, a 30.5 percent increase compared to the same period of last year. Assets grew by 2.3 percent from the end of 2018, to RON 79.7 billion. Banca Transilvania acquired Bancpost and two other non-banking companies from Eurobank group in April 2018, therefore the Q1 2018 financial report does not contain this expansion. ...