East Europe’s First : Hungary Opens School of Western-Style Banking

Hungary today opened Eastern Europe’s first school of Western-style banking, the latest sign of its determination to push toward a freer economy.

Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth told the opening ceremony of the school, a joint venture with a French organization, that what he called “distorted ideology” had taken Hungary away from the main lines of development in Europe.

“We would now like to come back to the main road,” he said.

Hungary’s banking system must be re-evaluated and entrepreneurship should no longer be viewed with suspicion, Nemeth said, adding that he hoped the center would become a focus of banker training in Eastern Europe, and later Central Europe.

International Training Center for Bankers Ltd. is a joint venture of 28 Hungarian financial groups and the Paris-based Center International de Formation de la Profession Bancaire.

Representing the French partner, Jean Montgaillard said the Hungarian and French banking systems were part of the same family but had been “separated” for some time.

“Now I have the feeling we are meeting again,” he said.

The center is another step toward Hungary’s desire to re-adopt a market economy with tools and instruments usually regarded as capitalist.

Hungarian, Italian and U.S. businessmen founded a business school in November to train Hungarians as Western-style managers. A stock exchange, suppressed after the Communist takeover 40 years ago, reopened in January.