A CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS OF THE BANKSâ€(tm) FINANCIAL SOUNDNESS: THE CASE OF THE CEE-3 COUNTRIES

The European integration process has a direct impact on all the components of the macroeconomic environment. The existence of a well functioning and sound banking sector becomes of great importance for the integration process as the European Union economy is financed especially through this channel. The banking sectors of the new EU member countries have undergone through tremendous changes in the last decade, both from an ownership and also from a business strategy point of view, these changes having a direct impact on their financial soundness. Thus, the aim of our research is to empirically examine the financial soundness of the banks operating in Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Romania, three EU members countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE-3). In order to achieve this we have employed a combine quantitative analysis based on the CAMELS framework (namely Capital Adequacy, Asset quality, Management soundness, Earnings, Liquidity, Sensitivity to market risk) and the Z-score, thus being able to underline simultaneously the financial soundness and the possibility of default for the banks from our sample. The analysed period is 2004-2011 providing us with an evaluation of the impact that the EU ascension and also the global financial crisis had on the financial soundness of the analysed banks. Our sample is composed from 40 commercial banks that operate in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania, that overall own over 75% of the total banking assets, making this study one of the most comprehensive undertaken to this date. The data that we have employed in our research is obtained from the Bureau Van Dijk Bankscope database and the annual financial statements of the banks from our sample. The paper through its original dual approach contributes to the academic debate by providing not only insight into the financial soundness of the banks operating in the CEE-3 countries but also underling their financial strength through the usage of the Z-score. Thus, the topic of the paper is focused on a subject of great importance for the European integration process.