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Weekly Lists
August 4, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
bne:Banker Slovak banking sector
profit drops in first half of 2017
Polish president tables new mortgage relief measures
The Slovak banking sector posted a €76mn drop in profit to €350mn in the first half of 2017, data released by the National Bank of Slovakia on August 3 revealed.
The figures show the pressure the low interest rate environment is putting lenders under, although one offs that raised the 2016 base also played a part. Low interest rates have spurred competition amongst banks, leading to a sharp rise in lending, which has the NBS hugely concerned for sector stability in the medium term.
Poland will expand measures aimed at aiding mortgage borrowers under a draft bill sent to parliament by President Andrzej Duda on August 2.
The legislation is a move by the presidential office to offer help to some 500,000 Poles that hold mortgages denominated in Swiss francs. Duda promised during his 2015 election campaign that he would deal with the issue. A sharp rise for the Swiss currency has seen borrowers' installments grow. While the president originally designed a bill to force banks to convert the loans, that plan has been blocked by the government due to fears the huge costs would destabilise the banking sector.
Polish financial market regulator KNF on August 2 gave Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) a new deadline of May 15, 2018 to float 15% of its Polish unit.
Under the terms of its purchase of the business in 2012, the Aus- trian banking group was supposed to list Raiffeisen Bank Polska on the Warsaw Stock Exchange by June 30. However, RBI pulled the offer, citing insufficient interest. In the meantime, a deal to sell the lender to PZU broke down, with sources in Austria claiming the state-controlled insurer was offering too low a price.
Polish regulator gives RBI new IPO deadline