NBR publishes official bank ranking for 2007

Nine banks of the 41 in the system had assets worth less than 100 million euros last year. Only eight banks in the system had an over 5% market share in terms of assets, according to the annual report of the NBR (Romanian central bank) for 2007. Another nine players had market shares ranging from 1% to 5%. Additionally, 24 banks were unable to exceed 1% market share, contributing to the overall picture of a fragmented banking system. The top five players in the system continue to dominate the market, concentrating 56% of the overall assets. However, their share was down from 60% in December 2006 and 59% in previous years. The number of banks with very small turnovers (assets worth under 100 million euros) was fuelled last year by the entry of new players with greenfield investments on the market. Portugal-based Millennium started local operations in October last year, whilst the Bank of Cyprus, Spain-based
La Caixa and Portugal-based FiniCredito set up the Romanian offices based on the European financial passport.