Foreign capital risky for Albanian banks, warn academics

Academics from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tirana have asked the Bank of Albania, BoA, for more stringent supervision of the banking system. According to statistics, international banks control over 45% of bank assets in the region and over 90% of the assets in Albania.
Currently, there are 16 second-tier banks in the Albanian market, yet only three of them have full or partial Albanian capital in them. However, they makeup only a small part of the market and, therefore, have little influence upon it. The banking market is dominated by banks with capital from Greece, Italy and Austria. “A financial crisis in these countries may have strong repercussions in Albania and its banks, therefore, a better supervision of the banking system is needed,” says the Dean of Economics, Prof. Dr. Omer Stringa.
As a matter of fact, only a few days ago BoA announced stricter regulations on foreign banks and their braches that are active in Albania. The new regulation calls for a more disciplined market, higher transparency from banks over products and services offered to their clientele and the public, detailed information of the financial status and the risk profile of foreign banks and their branches operating in Albania.