Five banks in Romania fail ECB’s stress test

Greek banks National Bank of Greece, Eurobank and Piraeus Bank, Italian Veneto Banca, and Austrian Volksbank are the five international banks present in Romania which failed the European Central Bank’s stress test. National Bank of Greece controls local Banca Romaneasca and Eurobank owns Bancpost, while Piraeus Bank, Veneto Banca and Volksbank operate on the Romanian market under their own brands. The five banks had a share of more than 11% of the total assets of the local banking system, at the end of 2013, according to data from Romania’s National Bank (BNR). The aim of the stress test is to assess the resilience of EU banks to adverse economic developments, so as to understand remaining vulnerabilities, complete the repair of the EU banking sector and increase confidence. A total of 25 European banks failed the stress tests. The results of the tests were announced last weekend. Among the 25 banks there are also Bank of Cyprus and Portuguese Millennium BCP, but both are in process of exiting the Romanian market. Banca Millennium Romania was sold to Hungarian OTP Bank, while Bank of Cyprus has its portfolio in Romania for sale. The results of the stress tests can be found here. editor@romania-insider.com