It is such a simple strategy it is a wonder more banks have not tried it. But, while many of Europe’s financial institutions are still trying to overcome the effects of the successive waves of crisis, it is perhaps understandable that few have had the chance to consider how to avoid future upheaval. Yet Netherlands-based Credit Europe Bank (CEB) has managed just that, despite boasting growing operations in some of Europe’s most difficult markets including Russia, Romania and Turkey
According to the bank's CEO, Murat Basbay, the upheavals in the European banking sector have had little effect on his bank. “We had to tighten our credit policies and to drop some of our growth targets, but we did not see any material effect on our financial standing,” he says. Mr Basbay believes that this is a direct result of the bank’s strategy of spreading risk.