Croatia’s banking system has changed dramatically in the past few years with the rise in foreign ownership but the country is still overbanked. 

The Croatian government has planned a tight schedule of reform and economic targets in its efforts at convergence with the EU.

Russia’s investment rating upgrade is good news for the bond market as Vladimir Putin faces the first real opposition to his government since his election to the presidency five years ago. Ben Aris reports.

A plentiful source of finance for Russian corporates with access to Western capital, syndicated loans are emerging as a domestic funding option.

Russia’s bond market has been quiet after last year’s banking scare. But it looks set to take off again with a bang, as Ben Aris reports from Moscow.

Though such thinking is indicative of the attention bank executives are paying to their core businesses, steps are being taken that will change the playing field. Though it appears as bordering on counter-intuitive, most mid-sized banks are making a sustained push to drive up retail customer numbers as a means of cashing in on the country’s rising tide of consumerism.

Government intervention in the Russian energy sector is providing an unexpected fillip to local investment banks offering mergers and acquisitions advisory services. 

Reform is altering Russia’s banking landscape and, by leveraging innovation, entrepreneurship and product development capability, Russia’s mid-sized banks appear well-armed to profit from change.

Kazakhstan’s spectacular financial boom is beginning to attract the attention of European banks, reports Christopher Pala from Almaty.
European banks have long perceived Kazakhstan, the largest after Russia of the former Soviet republics, as “too far, too small, too risky”. Five times the size of France with its economic capital, Almaty, close to the Chinese border and as far from Paris as Paris is from New York, Kazakhstan’s population is only 15 million: a small market spread over a huge area, ruled by an authoritarian president unwilling to make the transition to democracy.

Delta Banka, Serbia’s second largest bank by assets, has been acquired by Banca Intesa, Italy’s biggest bank. The deal will see Intesa acquire either 75% plus one share or, under certain circumstances, 100% of the voting share capital of Delta Banka. It is expected to close early in the second quarter of 2005 subject to approval by the regulatory authorities in each country.