Bank

BECICI - Vice Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Veselin Pjescic has said he expects efforts to solve the issue of bad loans taking up a 22.9 percent share of all loans in Serbia, because a reduction in the number of uncollectible loans is required for banks to increase their credit activity.

Eurobank, Greece's third-largest lender by assets, said on Friday it had hired five investment banks to arrange a possible bond sale.

"Eurobank... has mandated Credit Suisse, HSBC, JP Morgan, Mediobanca and Nomura to arrange a series of fixed-income investor meetings in Europe starting from June 16," the bank said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has declined to give information about claims that state-owned Halkbank paid the attorney fee of the bank’s former CEO, who is one of the key suspects of Dec. 17 corruption probe, citing banking secrets.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

Domestic banks are in a race against time to have their restructuring plans approved as soon as possible so they can secure their participation in the European stress tests on the best possible terms.

Bulgarians use their debit cards mostly to withdraw their salaries from the ATMs, shows a survey of the My Money internet portal. 

It took place among 1500 visitors of the site in April. 

Bank deposits in Cyprus rose last month for the first time since December 2012, the central bank said on Wednesday, but that was only possible due to money from outside the European Union.

Net deposits increased by 266.3 million euros in April after declining 247.2 million euros in March.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

The effective tackling of nonperforming loans, getting credit expansion moving again and completing the return of the banking sector to private hands are the three main objectives of local lenders following the successful completion of the second stage of their recapitalization.

Bulgarian banks continue to lower interest rates on savings products and to improve, mainly through new promotions, the consumer loans and credit cards conditions.

According to an analysis of MoitePari.bg for April 2014, there has been an improvement in the conditions for housing and mortgage loans, as banks mainly focus on cutting back fees, Bulgaria's National Radio informs.

The repatriation of capital that has been moved from local banks to other lenders abroad since the start of the Greek crisis is an ambitious goal that would have multiple benefits for the country.

First and foremost, it would provide much-needed relief for the banking system, which in turn would allow banks to reopen the liquidity tap and inject lifesaving cash into the market.

The World Bank has approved a loan designed to support Albania’s efforts to reduce the impact of the global financial crisis on the local financial sector.