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Foreign banks’ invasion pays

Privatisation in the Romanian banking sector has sent foreign assets soaring in the last six years. And the flurry of activity shows no signs of dissipating.Since privatisation began with the 1998 sale of the Romanian Development Bank (BRD) to France’s Société Générale Groupe, the percentage of banking assets represented by foreign banks in Romania has skyrocketed to more than 50%. Besides the French, the Austrians are traditional players in the central and eastern Europe (CEE) banking sector, as are the Greeks, playing on their regional familiarity. The Dutch, Italians and even the Americans, through Citibank, also have considerable presence.
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Few traditional CEE banks lack

presence in Romania, though markedly absent are the Dutch KBC Group, Austria’s Erste, Italy’s Intessa and Hungary’s OTP. It is rumoured that at least some of these contenders are reconsidering their expansion strategies so as to include Romania, which would further consolidate the market.

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