Development of the Banking Sector in CEE Countries – Comparative Analysis

This paper discusses trends in the banking sector in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the period from 2005 to 2010. Having in mind the fact that the CEE region includes countries with different development levels (those that are in the process of transition and countries that have already completed reform changes with more or less success), the following countries are analyzed: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The aim of this research is to show the negative influence of the first wave of the global economic and financial crisis on the banking sectors in the aforementioned countries. The research will be based on collecting data prepared by the relevant financial institutions and putting those financial indicators in relation to GDP using quantity methods and finding relation by applying the Pearson correlation finding the correlation by applying the Pearson correlation. The main results of the research aim to prove negative effects of the economic crisis on the banking sectors of the selected CEE countries. Some future analyses will investigate into which international financial instruments will cover the lack of equity in those markets.