Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), Jozef Makuch, expressed his confidence that the subsidiaries of European banks in Slovakia have passed the stress tests conducted throughout Europe last week. The tests were prepared and conducted by the CEBS and national supervisory authorities, in close cooperation with the ECB. The positive results have boosted the share prices of Europe’s largest banks.
“The parent banks have fared very well in the stress tests. We will receive data concerning their subsidiaries based in Slovakia around August 6,” he told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Iveta Radicova. Of the 7 banks that failed the test, none of them hold subsidiary interests in Slovakia.
The stress tests were carried out in order to see whether the banks could buffer another recession in some member state. Regarding Slovak foreign banking groups, Intesa SanPaolo (VUB) did best with with a capital adequacy of 8.2%, followed by Erste Group (Slovenska Sporitelna) with 8%, Raiffeisen Zentralbank (Tatra banka) with 7.8%, and Unicredit with 7.8%. Foreign banks hold around 78% of the assets on the Slovak banking market, says the NBS.