Characteristics of Croatian and Austrian Banking Industry: A Comparative Approach

Abstract

The author in this paper compares and analyses the characteristics of Croatian and Austrian banking sectors to identify the main differences that separate Croatia from a representative EU country. Croatian banking sector has been almost completely privatized by the end of last decade, with only a negligible part of banking sector still being state owned. Foreign banks from EU member countries at present hold around 92% of assets of Croatian banking sector. While greater presence of foreign banks, their venture capital and expertise was at first welcomed by regulators and broader public, in the last couple of years there is a growing discontent with the present situation in the domestic banking industry and the way that the foreign banks and their subsidiaries conduct their activities in Croatia. Profitability indicators for Croatian banking sector and five largest banks in Croatia are compared to those in Austria. Market concentration in Croatia and Austria is compared, by the use of concentration coefficient, Hirsch-Herfindal index and Lorenzo’s curve.