In Austro-Hungarian times, Bratislava was essentially a suburb of greater Vienna, a status it lost after communism divided central Europe, but one it is fast regaining, especially in banking services.
Slovakia has possibly the highest concentration of foreign bank ownership in Europe, with about 98% of bank assets in non-Slovak hands. The reason that the foreign banks have piled in over the past few years has been Slovakia’s tiger-like economic growth – coming in at 8.3% last year and 8.9% in the first quarter of this year.
