Greek bank to expand local business portfolio

Finansbank (Malta) Ltd plans to tap the local private banking market and expand its operations in Malta, managing director Cenk Kahraman told The Times Business.

Finansbank was originally established in Turkey in 1987 and in 2006 it was acquired by the National Bank of Greece, the largest lender in Greece with total assets of over €100 billion, which today owns more than 95 per cent of the bank's shares.

Finansbank (Malta) was established in 2005 and on March 1 it became part of the National Bank of Greece Group which holds 100 per cent of its shares.

Up until now Finansbank (Malta) has been mainly involved in corporate banking, large project loans and deposit services and most of its clients have been Turkish, but Mr Kahraman said the bank now wants to diversify its customer base.

"With our new shareholding we acquired a lot of experience and new expertise in lots of areas and one of them is private banking. We are seeking to establish private banking opportunities in Malta. We will target all the subsidiaries and the whole NBG Group in all countries, including Malta.

"We want to offer a high value service to our customers, whether these are Greek, Maltese, Turkish, Cypriot, Bulgarian, Romanian, and anyone who deals with Finansbank or the NBG Group. We want to offer them ideas, different products, and new opportunities in the financial markets because the NBG Group is well connected to the world's financial centres," Mr Kahraman said.

He said the Group's investment arm is constantly inventing new products, seeking new alternatives to the current products, and coming up with "very good ideas."

Mr Kahraman said Finansbank (Malta) already has a few Maltese clients but in the near future it plans to advertise its private banking services in Malta.

"We would like to target high network clients. We do not want to be the prime bank for individuals or companies, we want to be their auxiliary bank which offers high value services and presents them with new ideas," he said.

Acknowledging that the Maltese banking market was not an easy one to compete in, Mr Kahraman said: "Competition brings more services and benefits to clients. Obviously it won't be easy as competition is very intense, the market is small, but we will compete for private clients. We won't limit ourselves just to Malta but we will offer our services to all the subsidiaries and that will be the difference between us and the other banks operating in Malta."

Mr Kahraman highlighted Malta's fiscal regime, as well as its membership of the European Union and the euro as being particularly attractive for a company such as Finansbank to operate from Malta. He said Malta's EU membership allowed the bank to reach "all those countries and all those potential markets" while through the single currency the bank standardised its regulations with the rest of Europe "which is a huge benefit". Finansbank (Malta) currently employ 15 people and by the end of the year it plans to recruit another five to 10 people.

"The NBG wants to employ local talent and there are adequate human resources in Malta who are well versed in financial matters. When we employ somebody we provide him or her with training abroad at one of our subsidiaries either in Greece, Turkey or Romania, or we get somebody over to conduct training here," he said.