Financial development of CEE markets and the evolving role of foreign-owned multinational banks

This study examines the complex components of the financial sector of emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Specifically, it assesses the development of the banking and equity markets during the past 25 years. The study evaluates the continuing dominance of foreign-owned banks in these markets and examines their evolving role from the early years of economic transformation, through the period of the global financial crisis and beyond. To overcome damaging effects of the financial crisis, large multinational banks (MNB), in cooperation with domestic regulators, participated in a coordinated effort to safeguard the financial stability of the CEE region. This effort, known as the Vienna Initiative, led to the significant post-crisis financial restructuring of the region. The findings of the paper show that the Vienna Initiative was not only an effective crisis mitigation tool, but it evolved into an ongoing collaborative forum on financial regulation and risk management solutions.