Based on the bilateral cooperation agreement between the National Deposit Insurance Fund of Hungary (NDIF/OBA) and the Albanian Deposit Insurance Agency (Agjencia e Sigurimit të Depozitave) aimed at the exchange of professional information and experience in deposit insurance and resolution financing, signed on 21 October 2022, a three-member delegation of OBA visited the Albanian deposit insurance scheme in Tirana between 10 and 12 April. The visit was intended to discuss the ongoing revision of the European Union’s deposit insurance directive (DGSD), as well as the current developments of the two deposit insurance schemes.
Based on the bilateral cooperation agreement between the two institutions concluded at the end of 2022, employees of the Hungarian and Albanian deposit insurance systems reviewed the system and operation of deposit insurance and resolution financing in the two countries in 1993 and 2002, respectively, as well as the respective areas of law affected by the European Union regulations being under review since April 2023.
The Albanian-Hungarian bilateral relations are particularly important because the presence of the largest Hungarian commercial bank, OTP Bank, in Albania has increased significantly in the recent period, as a result of which the Albanian subsidiary of OTP Bank is now the fifth largest bank in Albania and one of the four credit institutions of systemic importance.
One year ago, in mid-April 2023, the Commission of the European Union published its package of proposals related to crisis management and deposit insurance (CMDI Proposal), which is expected to result in significant changes in the national legislation of the member states in the field of deposit insurance and resolution financing in the near future. Albania, as a candidate country for EU membership, is gradually adapting its deposit insurance and resolution financing system to EU requirements, and in doing so shows considerable interest in the Hungarian experience of the past 20 years.
On the occasion of this professional meeting, in addition to EU issues, the parties reviewed, among other things, the modern online possibilities of the deposit insurance compensation procedure, the current issues of information security related to deposit insurance, including in particular cyber security issues, the changing role of deposit insurers in the financial safety net, in relation to preventive and alternative measures, as well as the role of deposit insurers in the liquidation procedures of credit institutions.
NATIONAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE FUND OF HUNGARY