Turkish banks also figure prominently in the listing, with its 18 banks accounting for 41.6% of Tier 1 capital compared to the 10 Greek banks’ 46%. Turkiye Is Bankasi jumps into second place with Tier 1 of $3.0bn at the end of 2003. The next largest country grouping is Cyprus whose four banks account for 5.1%. Next comes Romania’s six banks with 4.1% and Bulgaria’s seven banks with 2%.
While only 11 banks have capital in excess of $1bn, the smaller banks have been growing fast with seven showing growth in excess of 100%. In asset terms, NBG continues to dominate the listing with assets nearly double that of its nearest competitors Alpha bank and EFG Eurobank Eglasias. Again the size of the banks is relatively small with only 13 banks having assets in excess of $10bn.