Austrian bank Gutmann, which specialises in private banking and wealth management, and manages 9.3 billion euros for its clients, intends to enter the Romanian market within the next few months.

The Austrians are currently looking, together with a local law firm, into the legal form their Romanian entity will take, with documentation to be submitted to the NBR (National Bank of Romania) and to the CNVM (National Securities Commission).

Bankers have recruited Ilinca Von Derenthall, 40, to head local Gutmann operations when they are launched.

Until August, Von Derenthall was general manager of EFG Eurobank Finance and chairman of the board at EFG Eurobank Securities.

Both companies are held by Greek group EFG Eurobank, which controls a financial group structured around Bancpost on the Romanian market.

"The bank has the firm intention of entering the market. We have started talks with the NBR (National Bank of Romania) and with the CNVM. How we will function and when we open the Romanian subsidiary depends on these talks with the authorities. I will run Romanian operations when they start," Ilinca Von Derenthall, told ZF. She is currently in Vienna, where she will spend three to six months and become familiar with the bank's business.

So far, Gutmann has provided services to clients directly from Vienna, based on the European financial passport system.

The private banking market has become crowded over the last few years, but most players have turned to a very flexible model, with relatively low thresholds, enabling clients with a wealth above 50,000 euros to qualify. Critics say these would qualify as services for VIP clients, rather than as proper private banking services.

For instance, former Dutch group ABN Amro (taken over by British-held RBS) chose to bring its "preferred banking" division onto the Romanian market, thus