Credex, the firm controlled by Dan Ostahie together with Raiffeisen Bank, no longer has the right to grant consumer loans on its own behalf, after the national bank on Friday struck it off from the financial institutions' registry.
However, Ostahie, who is also Credex's manager, maintains the firm has not cut down its product and services portfolio.
Besides Credex, UniCredit Consumer Financing, the consumer finance company of UniCredit Tiriac Bank, and EFG Retail Services, the specialised firm of Bancpost, also grant financing in the stores of Altex group owned by Ostahie.
According to banking sources, Credex shareholders decided to turn the company into a credit broker so that it may no longer be forced to fall into line with the NBR's capitalisation and provisioning requirements for outstanding loans.
Ostahie speaks about a "reorganisation" due to be completed in two or three weeks.
Altex owners stated Credex reorganisation was carried out during last year in parallel with that of Altex, so that credit offices were closed in the locations where stores of the network were also closed.
"We do not want to give up this business, which was carried out to meet lending demand".
Set up in 2005, Credex had been registered by the NBR in the general registry of non-bank financial institutions in July 2007 as its core business was consumer loans.
If lending is no longer appealing because of the falling demand, Ostahie is considering a formula through which he may take advantage of the population's growing penchant for savings.
He really imagines people queuing up in front of Credex offices to deposit several hundred RON for interest rates of 15%. Ostahie did not specify whether Credex offices would intermediate setting up deposits with Raiffeisen Bank or whether he planned to set up another financial institution.
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