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The concentration of the Nigerian financial sector has long been recognised to be an important factor affecting the financial stability and welfare at an individual level in the economy. While various studies have been conducted to examine the sensitivity of this phenomenon to macro economy, little has been done to examine the effect of concentration on credit availability in Nigeria. In addition, no study has investigated the role of remittances on the relationship between bank concentration and availability of credit. Taking motivation from the Nigerian banking consolidation exercise, this article examined the effect of remittances and bank concentration on availability of credit in Nigeria. The author employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test approach for co-integration on Nigerian data for the period of 1986–2015. The results revealed that bank concentration constrains the development of financial sector in Nigeria and remittances improve the level of financial development (credit availability) in the long run but inhibit the availability of credit in the short run. The negative relationship occurs in the short run because of the regulatory framework governing international money transfers in Nigeria, which simply inhibits competition. In the long run, recipients who have received remittances from informal settings would need financial products and services in which those remittances would be banked and further improve the financial sector. It was concluded that since Nigerian financial sector remained underdeveloped, the sector could be driven by encouraging inflow of remittances into the country. Our findings also persist after batteries of robustness check.

Title varies slightly. ; Mode of access: Internet. ; Continued by: Pennsylvania. Banking Dept. Reports of the several banks, savings institutions and trust companies, of Pennsylvania. ; Continues: Pennsylvania. Office of the Auditor General. Returns of the several banks and savings institutions of Pennsylvania, communicated by the Auditor General, to the Legislature.

Purpose: This paper examines the need of financial integration of Western Balkan countries as the main indicator of the region's economic growth. Design/Methodology/Approach: We provide an overview in order to explain what the financial system in the region is. Primarily we concentrate in the banking sector and the nonperforming loans in the region. They require attention and standardization of regulatory classification. By establishing a regional platform it would be of additional value and would help overcome the limited visibility in some of the countries. Findings: Currently the challenges for financial stability in the Western Balkan area comprise non-performing loans, low capital adequacy and moderate growth of credit in the economy. The banking sector is reducing the debt due to required financial stability measures of the European banking authorities. As these countries integrate their financial institutions and markets into the European financial system, on the path towards harmonization of national and European legislation, cooperation between financial entities in the Western Balkans becomes very important. The Western Balkan countries are in a different stage of development of banking sustainability and supervision and because of that there is a need for more integration with the European Banks and the respective regulators to ensure an adequate banking regime. Practical Implications: The article highlights the fact that Western Balkan countries need to intensify their reforms to build banking sustainability in order to meet the criteria for EU membership. Originality/Value: With this article we show that the Western Balkan countries in their integration processes must first align their local and European legislation and requirements. ; peer-reviewed

This diagnostic study exclusively covers consumer protection and financial literacy issues in the banking sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Household credit in BiH more than tripled in volume in 2003-2008, and in terms of GDP it expanded from 13 to 26 percent. Foreign currency loans represented 10 percent of GDP. Official statistics showed growth in the percentage of non-performing loans since 2007. To strengthen consumer protection in the banking sector in BiH, this review recommends measures in five key areas: legislative and institutional reform, consumer disclosure, business practices of banks, dispute resolution mechanisms, and financial education. The main tasks of this study have been: (1) to review the existing rules and practices in BiH compared to international good practices; (2) to provide recommendations on ways to improve consumer protection and financial capability; and (3) to refine a set of good practices prepared by the World Bank for assessing consumer protection in banking services, including financial capability. The Review is presented in two volumes: Volume I describes BiH Government policy for banking consumer protection, provides the banking sector statistics, and sets out the key findings and recommendations of the Review. Volume II provides an assessment of the BiH consumer protection institutional and legal framework and practices against the benchmark of Good Practices for the banking sector.