Marek Belka: Investment in the European Market in the Financial System Dominated by Banks

I think it's very important to discuss the issue of asset management of CMIG's overseas investment now.

First of all, I would like to explain that the financial system in Europe is dominated by banks, which is different from the United States where the banking sectors of various scales are measured by the total assets. While in Europe, a lot of historical reasons and other reasons lead to the phenomenon of bank-dominated financial system, and I don't think there is a way to reverse this element.

In addition, another trend is that Europe has inspired the growth of non-bank financial institutions. Now, the emergence of credit market unions may reverse this situation; however, the existing European financial system is still dominated by banks. They are so powerful that many banks,even the banks with best management, are at risk.They lack the funds to expand the credit business,which may also lead to the slow growth of the European economy, but the current asset price is very attractive.

However, this does not mean that I suggest CMIG invest in the banking sector in Europe, in that I think the banking sector lacks the strength to reform and revitalize. In terms of financial investment in Europe, I hold that CMIG should consider a number of other factors, such as the new branch, which can be well illustrated by a lot of asset management companies. This is my basic point of view.

Take the Bank of Poland as an example. What we are concerned about is the ownership structure of the Bank. It is mainly controlled by foreign banks that entered Poland and capitalized the banks in the late 1990s. They run very well, and most of them are European banks.

Their also have their own institutions distributed in Poland, but the scale is not very large. Such credit institutions in Poland develop healthily in the financial aspect, so why are we still concerned about the future development of banking sector? The reason lies in their parent companies. Once the parent companies encounter problems, it is possible to affect the distribution and development of branches in Poland. For instance, when an European bank is to withdraw funds from Poland, what would happen if no one wants to be the buyer? What would happen if other aspects of the entire economic system are not strong enough to be able to take up the slack? It is a problem -- the dependence of the core national banks in Europe on their parent companies.

These economic characteristics of the European market should be taken into consideration when CMIG invests in the European market.