Asiban is currently controlled by the three banks, together with the state-owned CEC national savings bank. Banca Transilvania and BRD recently announced they would sell their Asiban share packages and that BCR and CEC would have priority if they wanted to buy these shares. "We are currently analyzing the situation with BRD and BT, but our decision will be to sell," according to BCR's Communication Manager, Cornel Cojocaru, for Business Standard. CEC President, Radu Ghetea, said his bank was notified by BRD and BT about their plans, and he will evaluate the purchase of a partial or full share package of Asiban with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, CEC's sole shareholder.
The decision by the three banks to sell their participation in Asiban is likely due to their involvement in other insurance companies. The Banca Transilvania financial group owns an insurance division, BT Asigurari. BRD is collaborating with two insurance companies: Aviva, for life insurance, and Generali, for other insurances. BCR is shareholder of two insurance companies: BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata. Asiban's share capital is worth €21.2 million. The company's volume of gross premiums amounted to €41 million in the first quarter of 2007, compared with €451.1 million in 2006. According to preliminary financial results, Asiban's gross profit for 2006 exceeds €1 million, compared to €16.9 million in 2005.
