Old names of the European banking industry - the Royal Bank of Scotland (UK), established 1727 and Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Private Bank Limited (Switzerland), established 1796, as well as younger but similarly prestigious financial institutions such as Credit Suisse Luxembourg, JP Morgan International Bank Limited and Citibank International plc are getting ready to come in Romania in search of private banking and investment banking customers.
One month from the opening of the domestic banking market to any player in the European Union, the National Bank has received seven notifications from financial institutions interested to provide services directly on the Romanian market, without necessarily opening a branch here, pursuant to the EU legislation.
Romania's millionaires in euros are now targeted by the major players on the private banking segment, considering most banks that started procedures to notify the NBR specialise in precisely this segment. Lombard Odier Darier of Geneva, one of the biggest private banking firms in Europe has an over 200-year tradition in asset management and respect for the personal privacy of its clients.
Credit Suisse Luxembourg targets exactly the same segment. It is a subsidiary of the Swiss giant Credit Suisse and was established in 1974. It specialises in consulting services for personal investment, portfolio management and tax optimisation. Credit Suisse Luxembourg targets top clients, educated about the quality of private banking services and attempts to provide advice in the client's native language, relying on forming long-term relations based on maximum confidence.
Private banking customers is what JP Morgan International Bank Limited, London, will be looking for, too. This is a subsidiary of giant J.P. Morgan Chase that wants to be ready to provide international brokerage services, as well, through JP Morgan Europe Limited.
Citigroup, which already operates in Romania through a bank branch, has notified the supervisory authority of the financial market in the UK to convey to the NBR its intention to provide services through another two of its subsidiaries, Citibank International plc, specialising in investment banking and Citibank Global Markets Limited - international brokerage.
"This is standard procedure. The purpose is to make sure that we can provide to our clients a wider range of products and services, if needed, at the same time complying with all the regulations set by the EU for the new member states," Citigroup officials told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
NBR also received a notification from a universal bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which has a strong presence on the retail service market in Western Europe, mainly after buying the British bank NatWest in the early 2000's. RBS in turn is experienced in asset management, providing such services through offshore subsidiaries inclusively. Last but not least, Erste Bank, the majority shareholder of BCR, sent a notification in view of running operations it had not been authorised before.
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