Twenty five European banks fail EBA stress test. How many of them are active in Romania?

Twenty-five European banks have failed “stress tests” of their finances, the European Banking Authority (EBA) has announced on Sunday. The banks now have nine months to shore up their finances or risk being shut down.

National Bank of Greece, Eurobank, Piraeus Bank, Bank of Cyprus and Veneto Banca are among the banks that failed the test. The Oesterreichischer Volksbanken group also didn’t perform well in the stress test, writes Mediafax.

The stress tests comprised of two elements – a point-in-time asset quality review, which examined the adequacy of banks’ asset and collateral valuations, and a forward-looking stress test in which balance sheets were subjected to “stressed scenarios.”

The tests, which have been ongoing since the spring, demanded banks to hold a minimum of 8 per cent Core Tier One assets, and a minimum of 5.5 per cent in a stressed scenario.

Eurobank’s properties on the local market include Bancpost, ERB Retail Services IFN, ERB Leasing IFN, Eurobank Finance, Eurobank Securities, Eurobank Property Services, Eliade Tower (55,94%), IMO Property Investments Bucureşti, IMO – II Property Investments, EFG IT Shares Services, EFG Eurolife Asigurări Generale, EFG Eurolife Asigurări de Viaţă, Retail Development (55,94 percent) and Seferco Development. Eurobank’s total Romanian assets are valued at EUR 3.46 billion at the end of July, down from EUR 3.7 billion at the end of the first quarter.

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Piraeus Bank Romania, present on the local market since 2000, owns assets valued at EUR 2.05 billion, down 15 percent compared to last year. Piraeus Bank Romania has 135 offices and over 1,628 employees.

National Bank of Greece owns Banca Romaneasca, Garanta insurance company, NBG securities Romania and NBG Leasing.

Veneto Banca is present through 22 agencies around the country, 5 of which in Bucharest.

Bank of Cyprus entered the Romanian market in 2007.  This year Bank of Cyprus also sold the 10 percent stake in Banca Transilvania it had bought in 2009 for EUR 58 million. The Bank of Cyprus group currently operates through a total of 588 branches, of which 221 are in Russia, 164 in Greece, 143 in Cyprus, 34 in Ukraine, 10 in Australia, 11 in Romania, four in the United Kingdom and one in the Channel Islands.

Volksbank Romania is owned by VBI Beteilingungs (Austria) and it is set to receive a capital injection worth EUR 250 million from its shareholders by year-end, as Austrian group Volksbank seeks to strengthen the subsidiary and restructure its loan book in preparation for its sale by the end of next year.