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Financial & Banking
Romanians now allowed to withdraw from Pillar II private pension funds
Monday, March 18, 2019
Individuals who have contributed to the Pillar II pension funds for at least 5 years will now be allowed to withdraw from the fund and the 3.75 percent of the social insurance payment total (25 percent of incomes) allocated for Pillar II will be directed to the public pension system, according to a new ANAF regulation that was recently published in the Official Gazette. The termination of the Pillar II contributions takes place in the month when the ...
ASF: the share in GDP of the private pensions went up to 5.22% in 2018
Monday, March 18, 2019
The share of the private pensions in the GDP went up, at the end of last year to 5.22% as compared to 4.84% in December 2017 while the value of the total assets in the administration at the level of the whole system of private pensions reached 49.60 billion lei (10.64 billion euro) up by 19.40% against the previous year, according to a press release of the Authority for financial supervision (ASF).On 31 December 2018 the highest share in the structure of the portfolio ...
Raiffeisen Bank International to reevaluate operations in Romania following GEO 114
Monday, March 18, 2019
Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) will reevaluate its operations in Romania after the government imposed a new bank tax in a last-minute legislation in December, chief executive Johann Strobl announced on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters. Raiffeisen holds EUR 8.97 billion euros, which is around 6 percent of its assets, in Romania. “We will need to reevaluate Romania,” Johann Strobl said in the ...
EU adopts tax haven blacklist
Monday, March 18, 2019
*The move triples the roster to 15 countries including Bermuda, the US Virgin Islands and the United Arab Emirates. EU finance ministers adopted a revised blacklist for tax havens outside the bloc, overcoming Romania’s bid to postpone a vote to May. The move triples the roster ...
EUR 50,000 funding for start-ups through Factory by Raiffeisen Bank
Monday, March 18, 2019
Entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth in our country, says to 70 percent of the people according to an iVox study that also show shows 50.6 percent would like to become entrepreneurs and 34 percent Romanians who are employed are considering starting their own business provided they receive funding from a bank. According to a study by iVOX at the beginning of March, 70 percent of Romanians believe that entrepreneurship is the engine of ...
JC Flowers in talks for Leumi Bank’s Romanian subsidiary
Monday, March 18, 2019
U.S. investment fund JC Flowers, founded by a former Goldman Sachs executive, has entered into talks with Israeli Leumi Bank for its Romanian subsidiary, according to unofficial sources quoted by ...
Euler Hermes Report : Romania ranks among the particularly vulnerable countries to global slowdown, external financing
Monday, March 18, 2019
Romania ranks among the countries considered “particularly vulnerable” to a global slowdown and to external financing problems, according to a Euler Hermes report. Experts identified those countries with large current account deficits and Romania is considered with high risk regarding external liquidity, moderate risk regarding debt and significant risk regarding economic policy. From this perspective, the most ...
ING Bank Romania’s 2018 net profit up by 39 percent to RON 685 million
Monday, March 18, 2019
ING Bank Romania celebrates 25 years of presence on Romanian market, period in which it grew from a team of 5 people and a computer with no network connection to a market share of 10.1 percent and 1.5 million customers. ING recorded a net profit of RON 685 million in 2018, up by 39 percent, compared to 2017 when it made a net profit of RON 493 million. “In 2018 we recorded the highest growth so far in Romania. Over the ...
PwC survey: If tax on assets is enforced 5 years, the banks will recover the loses in 37 years
Monday, March 18, 2019
If the tax on banks’ financial assets, as provided by the Emergency Ordinance 114/2018, is enforced at the level of 1.2% for five years, the banks will recover the costs in 37 years, a survey conducted by PwC reveals. “If the tax is enforced one year, the recovery of losses will be made in five years, if enforced three years the recovery will be complete in 16 years and if enforced five years the recovery of losses will last 37 ...
EY Romania: Telecom operators warn GEO 114 might put at risk investments and mobile communication service
Monday, March 18, 2019
The telecom operators believe the level of taxes set for the telecom industry by Emergency ordinance 114/2018 may put at risk the investments in developing the electronic communication networks as well as the mobile communication services, Alex Milcev with EY Romania says in a company release on Friday. “Starting in 2019, the telecommunication companies in Romania face a new challenge – GEO 114.2018. GEO 114 brings amendments to the ...
EIB Group support worth 1.3 bln euro for Romanian projects in 2018
Monday, March 11, 2019
The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB) and its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), provided 1.311bn euro in loans, guarantees, equity and microfinance operations in Romania in 2018, Minister of Public Finance Eugen Teodorovici told a press conference on Wednesday."Just like in the previous years, in 2018 too EIB Group has shown that it brings added value in the various stages of the economic cycle, ...
Euroins acquires Germany’s ERGO subsidiaries in Romania, the Czech Republic and Belarus
Monday, March 11, 2019
Bulgaria-based Euroins Insurance Group AD (EIG), an insurance group in the CEE/SEE/CIS region, owned by Eurohold Bulgaria, has agreed to take over four insurance companies in three European countries – Romania, the Czech Republic and Belarus. All the companies to be acquired are subsidiaries of Germany-based ERGO, one of the major insurance groups in Europe and part of Munich Re, one of the world’s leading reinsurers and risk carriers. ?IG ...
Moody’s improves ratings for Alpha Bank Romania’s long-term deposits
Monday, March 11, 2019
Moody’s Investors Service has revised upwards the ratings for long-term deposits in foreign and domestic currency of Alpha Bank Romania (ABR) from ‘Ba3’ to Ba2’ as well as the rating for financial soundness (BCA) from ‘b2’ to ‘b1’, a release from the rating agency informs. Alpha Bank Romania’s ratings for short-term deposits have been confirmed at ‘Not Prime’. The ...
Financial services: Commission urges ROMANIA to apply rules on payment services
Monday, March 11, 2019
The Commission decided to send formal requests to Romania to fully enact the second Payment Services Directive ...
Pension fund managers willing to discuss investment options with Romania's Govt.
Monday, March 11, 2019
The seven pension fund managers handling the EUR 10 billion worth of assets accumulated in the 2nd pillar of Romania’s pension system said in a public message, after negotiations held with the Romanian authorities on March 5, that they are ready to “enlarge their investment universe” and include the projects suggested by the ...
BNR Governor Mugur Isarescu met Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang
Monday, March 11, 2019
Governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu, on February 28 - March 5, paid an official visit to the People's Republic of China, answering thus to an invitation extended by Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang , according to a press release of the BNR.On the occasion of this visit, the BNR delegation carried out meetings with the leadership of the People's Bank of China and that of the Asian International Infrastructure ...
OTP Bank Romania’s financial results for 2018: a 25% profit advance than in the base period
Monday, March 11, 2019
OTP Group announced an after-tax profit of RON 55.3 million (HUF 3.9 billion) in 2018, according to the report published in Budapest, which presents the consolidated result adjusted in accordance with the Group reporting standards. The bank registered a profit increase of 25% compared to 2017, as a result of a better operational profit. The performing loan volumes, FX-adjusted, increased by 14%, supported by robust mortgage and SME lending dynamics. ...
EIB supports rehabilitation and extension of regional water supply and sanitation services in Alba County in Romania
Monday, March 11, 2019
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 12m to the Alba County Regional Water Company to finance, in conjunction with Cohesion Policy funds, upgrades in drinking water supply and sanitation services for some 332,000 people in Romania’s Alba County. This transaction is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe, or “Juncker Plan”. “I am pleased to ...
Mastercard gives EUR 1 M for the first oncology hospital for children in Romania
Monday, March 11, 2019
Mastercard has announced on Wednesday that it is donating EUR 1 million for the construction of the first pediatric oncology hospital in Romania, a project by developed by Daruieste Viata Association. At the same time, Mastercard says that each donation by a Mastercad card on www.bursadefericire.ro this year will be supplemented by 2 ...
Pillar II fund shareholders call for immediate changes to OUG 114 after talks with Romanian decision-makers
Monday, March 11, 2019
Shareholders of the Pillar II pension funds wrote a statement for the Romanian authorities on Tuesday where they claimed that of all the provisions of OUG 114, the new capital increase requirements of about EUR 800 million are a “huge, unjustified and unsustainable burden on the industry” and they called for the provision to be revised based on sustainable economic considerations, through real technical consultations between industry and authorities, ...