Parent Bks Consider 5% Variation Band To Romania Exposure - Sources

The parent banks of Romania's top nine lenders, alongside officials of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and of Romanian central bank, are considering a 5% variation band to their exposure cap on the Romanian market, participants to the talks told MEDIAFAX Wednesday.

The sources said parent banks will have to compensate potential lower individual exposure to Romania by increasing their subsidiaries' exposure ceiling with a similar percentage at a future date.

Bank officials met with IMF, EC and Romanian central bank representatives in Brussels today to review the commitments assumed by the lenders regarding total exposure to Romania.
In August, the parent banks of Romania's top nine lenders have signed bilateral letters to keep the exposure cap on the local market at the end-March levels and their subsidiaries' solvency ratio above 10%.

The banks' total exposure to Romania reaches nearly EUR33 billion.

The banks are Erste Bank, Raiffeisen International, Eurobank EFG, National Bank of Greece, Societe Generale, Alpha Bank, Volksbank, Piraeus Bank and UniCredit. Their market share amounts to around 70% of the local banking system.
Early November, the IMF said will work with the parent banks to bring exposure back to the March level, as financing on the local market has dropped 2% since.

mediafax.ro