National Bank of Greece plans to sell Banca Romaneasca

The National Bank of Greece (NBG) is planning to put up for sale local lender Banca Romaneasca once again. It has hired Credit Suisse London to find a buyer for the local bank, according to sources in the banking market, reports local Ziarul Financiar. Banca Romaneasca ranks 14th in the Romanian banking system, with a market share of 1.8% and RON 6.6 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) worth of assets at the end of 2015. During the economic crisis, the lender lost 1.1 percentage points of its market share and RON 2.5 billion (EUR 553 million) worth of assets. The four Greek banks active in Romania, Alpha Bank, Bancpost, Piraeus, and Banca Romaneasca, have lost ground after the Greek crisis. The parent-banks in Athens haven’t managed to reach agreements for creating two strong banks that could become competitive on the market. editor@romania-insider.com