In a move to strengthen its control over the Czech banking sector, the Czech National Bank (ČNB) is creating a team of experts, which it’s calling a financial commando. The Czech central bank fears that struggling international owners of Czech banks could attempt to siphon funds from their profit-producing branches in the Czech Republic. The new ČNB team will track suspicious transactions, as banks can pull money not only through dividends but also through loans and other less obvious channels.
Česká spořitelna, ČSOB, Komernčí banka, Raiffeisen and UniCredit sent their foreign subsidiaries CZK 29bn last year, writes the economic daily Hospodářské noviny.
