Bank

Caretaker Finance Minister Rumen Porozhanov has said that depositors may get partial access to their funds at Bulgaria's troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB, Corpbank) in September.

By Evgenia Tzortzi

The government is examining the prospect of transforming ETEAN, the National Fund for Entrepreneurship and Growth, into a new operation that could serve as a development bank and also absorb other financial instruments, with the overall objective of increasing liquidity in the marketplace.

The Ministry of Development and Competitiveness has denied reports that it plans to toughen up existing legislation commonly referred to as the Katseli law which offers protection to households overburdened by debt.

One third of the money, withdrawn from Bulgarian banks in June was deposited back in the banks, shows data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

During the bank panic in June, depositors withdrew BGN 1.043 B, which was somewhat of an anomaly, considering that in the past few years, the households saved in banks between BGN 3 B and 5 B per year.

Turks’ soaring debt levels are beginning to set off alarm bells, with the number of consumers having difficulty paying credit card debts jumping by more than 30 percent in June compared to the same month last year.

According to figures compiled by the Turkish Banks Association (TBB) Risk Center, nearly 186,000 Turks did not pay their loan or credit card debts to banks in June.

The overall uncertainty regarding how Greek banks will emerge from October’s stress tests to be conducted on all EU banks has fueled a summer of distress and fluctuation for local banking stocks.

Greece’s banks are on sturdy capital ground, and if any capital injections are needed, the sum should not exceed 3.5 billion euros, Morgan Stanley notes in a new report.

Morgan Stanley analysts also stated that recent share price corrections in the local banking sector have created investment opportunities.

Turkey’s banking watchdog has announced a draft regulation that immensely expands limitations on the commissions and fees that can be charged by banks.

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) aims to decrease the number of services permitted to charge fees on 60 services to 20, according to the draft regulation model unveiled on Aug. 21.

 Sector's denial of any capital injection needs receives backing from positive report delivered by JPMorgan

Greek banking sources are denying reports that the sector will need a new round of increased capital support, announcing that no such news has been delivered to them by the European Central Bank.

Turkish banks’ rapid credit growth and higher external debt increases downside risks in the case of extremely stressed market conditions, Fitch Ratings has said in its latest statement over risks looming over the country’s economy.