Selection of Bank Managers in the Hungary of the 80s and 90s

Abstract

The transformation of the Hungarian banking system, the development of the conditions of market economy have created new requirements in the face of the leaders of banks as well. The paper is trying to find an answer to the question how the selection and the attitude of bank managers have been changed by watching the changes in the composition and professional suitability of the group of bankers, and by exploring the professional and political motivations that may be assumed behind the dismissals and appointments. As the share of state ownership and hence the influence of government has continued to remain significant in the Hungarian system of banks, the transformations of the political system as well as the changes of government constitute a dominant trait of the analysis just as well as the changes that have taken place in the institutions of banking. Experiences so far suggest that while today expertise already plays an important role in the selection of bank leaders, the mutual dependency of banks with (partial) state ownership and politics continues to exist even after the systemic change the nature of which is hardly influenced by the composition of the governing coalition.