Cetelem grants 213m-euro loans

Cetelem IFN, the local branch of the consumer financing division of the French giant BNP Paribas, registered a volume of credits worth 714 million RON (213 million euros) at the end of September. According to company officials, the volume of funding saw an approximately 50% increase against September last year. Cetelem is the biggest player on the local market of consumer financing. The second largest player is BRD Finance, a company held by BRD SocGen and Franfinance, the consumer credits division of Soci?t? G?n?rale. The market is dominated by consumer financing bank subsidiaries, because players in the banking system that were interested in retail banking decided to take advantage of the lack of a legal framework at the time. Later, the NBR (National Bank of Romania) and the Government created specific legislation for Non-Bank Financial Institutions, so that currently companies have lending restrictions similar to those imposed on commercial banks.