Financial Crises as Turning Points: Banking Transformations and Financialisation in Slovenia and Slovakia

Recent debates on the banking sector in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) have mainly revolved around the turn toward banking nationalism after the great financial crisis in 2008 ff. However, the transformation process of banking in post-socialist CEE countries has been far from uniform. This article analyses the transformation of the banking sector in two Eurozone countries of the industrial (semi-)periphery, Slovenia and Slovakia, to understand the development of peripheral capitalism. The article focuses on the crises as turning points in property relations and lending strategies. On the one side, it elaborates on the vulnerabilities of the accumulation strategies of banks in the broader context of the accumulation regimes and the economic crisis dynamics. On the other side, it analyses the different political strategies for dealing with the crisis and the role of the composition of the ruling blocs. Beyond the national level, two sets of political institutions matter: the EU and the international financial institutions.