19 apr 2012

Israeli bank Leumi has completed its two-year restructuring process, which cut 10% of its personnel and almost halved its territorial network; the bank said it wants to stay in Romania and focus on more

13 apr 2012

Omniasig and BCR Asigurari, controlled by Austrian insurer Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), will as of next month become one company with 2,400 employees and a territorial network of 350 branches. more

12 apr 2012

Romanians’ appetite for long-term savings has increased spectacularly lately thanks to the more generous offers from banks attempting to balance their portfolios. more

6 apr 2012

The mortgage lending growth pace in February was half the monthly average of 2011, because not even government-secured loans are drawing customers to banks. more

6 apr 2012

MKB Romexterra has focused on cleaning up its loan portfolio over the past two years and is now getting ready to resume sales of loans to small companies and consumers. more

3 apr 2012

Leu-denominated loans for individuals became more expensive in February after three months of decline in a row, because of bankers seeking to boost revenue even though they are paying less to get more

28 mar 2012

Life insurance companies lost several tens of thousands of accounts last year, as they were closed by customers who needed the money after seeing their income shrink because of the difficult economic more

27 mar 2012

Sales of voluntary home insurance totaled 641 million lei (EUR147 million) in 2011, up 70% on the previous year, in addition to more than RON35 million from mandatory insurance, according to the data more

19 mar 2012

The number of mortgage loans rose by only 2,000 accounts in January and February, a four times slower pace than in early 2011, considering bankers are only selling “First Home” scheme loans now. more

15 mar 2012

Now that consumer loans come with heavy restrictions imposed by Romania’s central bank, banks are turning to credit cards, unaffected by the new lending rules. more

8 mar 2012

The Romanian leasing market rose 15% last year, when new financing hit EUR1.3 billion, but it was still significantly down from the almost EUR5 billion peak registered in 2007-2008, according to data more

2 mar 2012

Bankers made loans in lei more expensive at the beginning of the year, and cut interest rates on deposits attracted from clients, as they seek to boost their income from interest rate margins to cover more

29 feb 2012

Austria's government invests a further EUR250 million in Volksbank’s capital after taking a 70% loss from a previous EUR1 billion injection, this being the third time since 2008 that the Austrian more

22 feb 2012

Deposits in Swiss francs generated gains of almost 70% for the customers who bet on this currency in 2008, when a franc was traded for an all-time low of 2.2 lei, but bankers say few customers bet on more

22 feb 2012

Bankers manage to get back only 30% of unsecured consumer loans that default, with the rest amounting to losses, according to a study by the Romanian central bank BNR, conducted on a quarterly basis more

16 feb 2012

Romanian banks charge up to 5% higher margins on loans in lei than Polish and Czech banks do on loans in their local currencies. Loans in lei are much more expensive even though interbank interest more

15 feb 2012

Lending granted by non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) included in the special register of the Romanian central bank narrowed by 14% in the past two years and reached 29.4 billion lei (EUR6.7 more

14 feb 2012

Money market interest rates, which are used as reference for loans in lei have fallen significantly since the beginning of this year because of excess liquidity, and this is starting to be felt in the more

9 feb 2012

The approximately EUR50 million in assets and the 250,000 customer portfolio were the numbers that convinced US-based MetLife to buy the local business of British insurer Aviva, for which several more

6 feb 2012

The three consecutive cuts of the key monetary policy rate from 6.25% to 5.5% made by the central bank since November last year and the constant liquidity boosts through repurchase agreements (lending more

6 feb 2012

Romania's central bank (BNR) has managed, by easing its monetary policy, to make loans cheaper in December than in previous months, but interest rates are still above the level recorded at the end of more

3 feb 2012

US company MetLife, which has recently announced the acquisition of the local subsidiary of Aviva, is watching the Romanian market and does not rule out a potential acquisition of another company if more

1 feb 2012

Loans granted by Romanian banks for home acquisitions rose by EUR1 billion last year, reaching the equivalent of EUR7.75 billion, according to data from central bank BNR. more

30 ian 2012

The Romanian central bank (BNR) will cut its key interest rate by a further quarter of a percentage point at Thursday’s monetary policy meeting, considering that the Romanian economy needs more

27 ian 2012

The costs at which banks borrow from one another have fallen significantly in the past few weeks thanks to the abundant liquidity on the interbank market and clients whose interest rates are being more