Raiffeisen Bank closes down brokerage division in Romania

Local lender Raiffeisen Bank will close down its brokerage division in Romania. Raiffeisen Capital & Investment will no longer provide trading services for shares, government securities and other financial instruments to its customers. Raiffeisen wants to simplify its banking activity, given the new EU regulations, according to the Austrian financial group. Raiffeisen Bank is currently the third-biggest broker on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in terms of trading volumes. It has brokered transactions with shares of RON 2.3 billion (EUR 496 million) this year. The bank will continue to operate on the public offers and mergers&acquisitions segments, where the demand is growing, according to James Stewart, Raiffeisen Bank vice president in charge with treasury and Capital Market operations. Meanwhile, ING Bank will resume trading activities on the local bourse, after closing down brokerage operations at the end of 2012. ING has recently announced that it would give up its Wealth Management division in Romania from next year. Other large financial groups have withdrawn from the core brokerage business for the Bucharest Stock Exchange after the financial crisis, including UniCredit Bank. editor@romania-insider.com