Simonas Krepsta, a member of the Lithuanian central bank’s board, expects new players to emerge in the country’s banking market this year.
The Bank of Lithuania sees an active and growing interest in the country’s banking sector, which became especially evident in the second half of last year, according to Krepsta.
“Polish banks are interested; they are already making visits, talking to regulators but also to the business community. These contacts show that they are serious,” the official told LRT Radio on Wednesday.
“Our banking sector is exceptionally profitable, and it will be profitable this year too. I think this whole set of factors will allow us to see new market entrants this year,” he added.
Krepsta did not name any specific banks, but in an interview with 15min in early January, Gediminas Simkus, the central bank governor, confirmed an earlier report by BNS, based on unofficial sources, that Pekao, one of Poland’s largest banks, was considering opening a branch in Lithuania.
PKO, Poland’s largest bank, has officially confirmed to BNS that it intends to launch operations in Lithuania without establishing a branch in the country. The bank then said it had already informed the Polish financial watchdog of its intention to carry out cross-border operations in Lithuania.
Simkus said last week that Taiwanese were also interested in the possibility of setting up a bank in Lithuania, but that no concrete steps had been taken so far.
Source: BNS
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