OTP may challenge Romanian central bank’s decision to block takeover

Hungarian group OTP announced that it was analyzing the legal effects of the letter received from Romania’s National Bank (BNR), which opposed OTP Bank’s takeover of local competitor Banca Romaneasca. The Hungarian group said it could challenge the central bank’s decision by March 29. Last summer, OTP Group agreed with Greek group National Bank of Greece (NBG) to buy its subsidiaries in Romania. The deal received the Romanian Competition Council’s approval but the central bank opposed this takeover. BNR announced its decision last week without publicly stating the reasons behind it. The central bank said that the motivation was confidential. This is the first case in recent years when BNR opposes an agreed transaction on the local banking market. OTP Group said that, regardless of the final result in this matter, it would remain dedicated to increasing its presence in Romania through organic growth and acquisitions. The Banca Romaneasca takeover would have pushed OTP in the top 10 local banks. editor@romania-insider.com