Chinese and Vietnamese citizens can purchase the €300,000 bonds at half price and the rest is covered by the loan of the bank.

On the other hand, the invested capital is not given back to the clients, as is the normal practice, but the bank and the selling agency split it. As a result, the agency can make a profit of €130,000-150,000 on the loan, in addition to the compulsory €45,000 fee.

That is a 58-64% profit margin, contrary to the less than 1% commission paid to agents on state bond sales, Magyar Nemzet calculates.

The half price provides a relatively cheap opportunity to escape for those who want to disappear from a country, or terrorists, the newspaper argues.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

This news item is one of many published daily by HATC, a premier subscription news service which distributes English-language info about Hungary via email or fax. For a free trial of HATC visit www.hatc.hu and click on 'Free Trial Subscription’.