Various aspects of the financial sector transformation of selected Central European countries are analyzed by financial experts living in these countries and working in different fields of banking and finance. These experts have also been exposed to the international banking and financial scene, as evidenced in the topics they analyze. The book begins with a short overview of the financial and banking sectors of Central European countries. This is followed by topics covering areas in regulation and supervision, concentration and efficiency of banking sectors, the financial and banking crises, and monetary and exchange rate development. The authors also show how developed countries compare with these transition countries. Expectations for future development are outlined in each of the topics analyzed, including steps before joining the EU by these countries in 2004. The book concludes with some interesting facts. The most notable fact is that there exist differences in the development of the financial sectors even in the relatively homogeneous group of selected Central European countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary).

List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Contributors
PART 1: THE FINANCIAL AND BANKING SECTORS IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES L.Kulhánek, S.Poloucek & D.Stavárek
Financial sectors and intermediation in transition countries
Comparison of financial sector structures
Development and restructuring of banking sectors in the CEC
Conclusion
PART 2: THE CZECH BANKING SYSTEM IN THE 1990S: REGULATION AND SUPERVISION; R.Matoušek
The role and place of banking regulation and supervision
Banking regulation and supervision - legislative framework
Entry into and exit from the banking sector
Deposit insurance scheme
The institutional framework of supervision and regulation
Conclusion
PART 3: CONCENTRATION OF BANKING SECTORS; S.Poloucek
Concentration and economic theory
The concept of measurement of concentration
Concentration in the banking sectors of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia
Conclusion
PART 4: EFFICIENCY AND PROFITABILITY IN THE BANKING SECTOR; D.Stavárek and S.Poloucek
The theoretical framework of efficiency
Cross-country analysis of relative efficiency
Privatization and banking sector profitability
Risk and profitability of banks in CEC
Relationship between efficiency and profitability
Conclusion
Appendix
PART 5: COSTS OF MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY IN ACCESSION COUNTRIES; J.Frait, L.Komárek and M.Melecký
Overview of features of the transition process in the ACC
Facts on financial instability
An empirical analysis of potential costs associated with macroeconomic instability
Conclusion
Appendix
PART 6: EXCHANGE RATE AND MONETARY DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCESSION COUNTRIES; J.Frait and L.Komárek
Overview of discussions on the introduction of the euro
Nominal and real convergence
Exchange rate developments in six accession countries
Inflation targets and price-level convergence
Exchange rate regimes and the speed of euro adoption
Exchange rate strategies of accession countries
Conclusion
Index

STANISLAV POLOUCEK is a Professor of Finance and Head of the Department of Finance at Silesian University, School of Business Administration, Karviná. He has wide teaching experience of regular finance courses in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia and in lectureships in other foreign universities. He is the chairman of the International Program Committee of a yearly banking conference that takes place at the Silesian University. His research activities focus on banking sector development in developed as well as transition countries, and monetary theory and policy.