Fullani officially reconfirmed, Banks become safer

TIRANA, Nov. As expected, majority members of the Parliament voted on Thursday in favour of a second consecutive term for Bank of Albanian governor Ardian Fullani while the opposition did not uphold Fullani’s candidacy as shown in their earlier stances.
Fullani who will be Albania the central bank governor for another seven-year term was decreed by President Bamir Topi last week as one of the three candidacies government had selected for the Bank of Albania governor. He received only 75 votes of the ruling Democratic Party-led coalition.
Meanwhile, Parliament approved in consensus some legal changes protecting branches of foreign-owned banks in case their mother banks go bankrupt. The changes focus on converting bank branches into subsidiaries and establishing bridge banks as similar measures the European Union has adopted to prevent crisis effects. The Bank of Albania supervisory powers over the banking system are also strengthened by having to decide if a bank branch needs to be converted into a subsidiary.
Some 16 banks operate in the Albanian banking system, which is overwhelmingly foreign-owned. Central bank data show Alpha Bank Albania and the National Bank of Greece – Albania are the only two banks operating as branches in Albania with Greek capital