LATEST ARTICLES FROM ROBERT ANDERSON

MAY 4 2009

Counting the cost: Volatile Times

The aggressive increase in residential and commercial real estate lending in the three Baltic states by Swedbank and SEB has left the two institutions painfully exposed to the market crash. Robert Anderson reports

Central & eastern Europe

MAY 4 2009

The long road back: Volatile Times

Without an injection of millions of euros from the international banking community, Parex Bank would have gone under last November. But just six months on, Robert Anderson reports on Latvia's second largest bank's slow, but steady recovery.

Western Europe

MAY 4 2008

A state of immunity

Conservatism, strong deposit bases and past consolidation bode well for Finland’s banks in the global credit squeeze, writes Robert Anderson.

Central & eastern Europe

FEBRUARY 4 2008

Where Russia meets the EU

Formed in 1992, Parex has seen off various crises to become Latvia’s second largest bank by selling itself as a channel into western Europe for Russian investors. Robert Anderson reports.

Central & eastern Europe

SEPTEMBER 3 2006

Light at end of the tunnel over Czech IPB fiasco

After six years of bitter legal wrangling over who was to blame for the downfall of the once mighty IPB bank, Nomura Securities and the Czech government may be about to bury the hatchet. Robert Anderson recounts the acrimonious tale.

Digital journeys

JUNE 5 2005

Central European giant looks to Balkans for new borrowers

With central Europe already wrapped up, Erste Bank is having to look for ways to make its mature Czech and Polish markets more productive – and for new clientele, writes Robert Anderson in Prague.Erste Bank’s dramatic expansion drive from Austria into the rest of the old Hapsburg Empire has now reached maturity. Last year it became the largest financial provider in central Europe in terms of assets, after already leading in terms of customers.

Central & eastern Europe

FEBRUARY 3 2004

Auctions fuel growing distressed debt market

The Czech Republic’s distressed debt market is burgeoning. If insolvency law and other legal obstacles are addressed, banks could begin to extend new loans with confidence, says Robert Anderson.