Bank

BELGRADE - Governor of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Jorgovanka Tabakovic said on Friday that the proposed amendments to the Law on Banks would contribute to better protection of depositors and creditors of banks which are experiencing problems in their conduct of business while requiring minimum budget expenditures.

Imposing solutions for Swiss franc debtors by law, against the market principles, could result in a lack of predictability in economy and investments and in unfair discrimination among banks' customers, the Council of Bank Owners of Romania (CPBR) stated in a release to AGERPRES on Thursday.

Photo credit: (c) SILVIU MATEI / AGERPRES FLOW

BELGRADE - There will be no Swiss franc rate fix because such a solution would jeopardize the equal treatment of other clients in Serbia and endanger the basic postulates of the banking sector, Goran Pitic, head of the Managing Board of the Association of Serbian Banks, said on Friday.

The Public Finances Ministry on Thursday borrowed 800 million lei from the commercial banks by an auctioning of 11-month government bonds at 1.36 percent average yield, marking an historic low. (1 euro=4.5005 lei)

Photo credit: (c)

Nine banks underwrote offers totalling 1.5 billion lei at Thursday's auctioning.

Legally imposing the conversion of credits from Swiss francs to lei or other currencies could result in bankruptcy for several banks; such a normative act should clearly specify who takes the losses generated by the conversion of a different exchange rate than the current one, says Nicolae Cinteza, the director of the Surveillance Department of the National Bank of Romania (BNR, the central ban

Greek banks are better prepared than in 2012 and a possible outflow of deposits will be manageable, according to a Fitch Ratings analysis. However the international firm noted that local lenders will face a greater risk from any prolonged political and economic uncertainty and a delay in reaching an agreement with the country?s creditors.

Liberal MEP Theodor Stolojan says that the recent speech of Finance Minister Darius Valcov about Romanian holders of Swiss franc loans "was incredibly arrogant" and asserts that the solution to the issue could be individual, if the banks relax the terms for the debtors, or collective - in the opposite situation.

Photo credit: (c) ADRIAN CUBA/ AGERPRES ARCHIVE

By George Georgiopoulos

Greece's central bank has moved to protect its banks from any fallout from the coming general election, asking the European Central Bank to approve a stand-by domestic emergency funding line, a Bank of Greece official said on Saturday.

Loan rescheduling and bank-specific conversion and appreciation offsetting programs are two solutions to the issue of Swiss franc loan holders, identified at the January 16 meeting of Finance Minister Darius Valcov with the leaders of the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

Bank of Cyprus has completed the third phase of its share capital increase with its retail offer to shareholders, it said on Tuesday.

The bank said it received applications for 567,188 shares at 0.24 euros per share, totaling 136,125 euros.