“There is absolutely no reason to split up deposits… if the deposits are above EUR100,000, then it’s their business,” Isarescu told a news brief.
Private saving deposits in the European Union are guaranteed up to EUR100,000.
“This amount is insured,” Isarescu said, mentioning that there are not too many Romanians with bank deposits of more than EUR100,000.
“We are not worried about large depositors, there are not too many of them and I can assure you they can take care of their money. There might be 11,000 people total,” the central bank’s chief added.
Isarescu said the aggregate assets of the two banks with Cypriot capital in Romania, namely Marfin Romania and Bank of Cyprus Romania, only amount to 1.3% of the local banking assets.
Furthermore, all deposits in Marfin Romania, whose mother bank will be dissolved as per Cyprus’ recent bailout agreement with the EU, are entirely insured, Isarescu said.
To secure EUR10 billion in international aid, Cyprus agreed to tax deposits above EUR100,000 by as much as 40% and to restructure its banking system. The Popular Bank of Cyprus, or Laiki Bank, will be split into a “good” and a “bad” bank, with the good bank merged into the country’s biggest state-run lender Bank of Cyprus.
An official of Raiffeisen Bank Romania said earlier Thursday that local depositors were starting to move their savings from small to larger banks, which they see as more secure.