Bančni sektorji bivših tranzicijskih držav so bili sestavljeni iz monobanke, ki je opravlja naloge poslovne in centralne banke in nekaj specializiranih institucij, vsaka z monopolom na svojem področju. Večina jih je bila v državni lasti, kar pa se je izkazalo za ekonomsko neučinkovito. V zadnjih dveh desetletjih je evropski bančni sektor doživel korenite spremembe. Velik napredek je bil storjen v prestrukturiranju in konsolidaciji bančnega sektorja. Ta napredek je bil mogoč zaradi obsežne privatizacije bank v državni lasti in odprtju bančnega sektorja tujemu lastništvu. Pojem privatizacije povezujemo s procesom saniranja obstoječih finančnih sistemov. Privatizacija je dosegala vrhunce na vseh področjih, zaradi pričakovanja večje finančne stabilnosti in gospodarske rasti. Kljub velikemu število privatizacij pa državne banke ohranjajo pomembno vlogo v finančnih sistemih mnogih držav. Različna stopnja razvitosti posameznih držav in finančnih trgov narekujejo različne cilje ter z njimi ustrezne modele privatizacije bank. Primarni cilj vseh privatizacij je neodvisno upravljanje. Najpogosteje uporabljeni modeli so model javne prodaje delnic, model neposredne prodaje premoženja ter model brezplačnega prenosa državnega premoženja javnosti. Tuje lastništvo povezujem s pojmom privatizacije, saj veliki del tujega lastništva izvira iz privatizacije bivših državnih bank. Najpomembnejša institucionalna sprememba v tranzicijskih ekonomijah je bila sprememba lastništva oziroma razmah tujega lastništva. The banking sectors of former transition countries were composed of a monobank, which performed duties of commercial and central bank and of a few specialized institutions, each having a monopoly in its field. Many of them were state owned, but that has proven to be economically inefficient. Over the past two decades, the European banking sector underwent a radical change. A significant progress has been made in restructuring and consolidation of the banking sector. This progress has beed possible due to large-scale privatisation of state-owned banks and opening of the banking sector to foreign ownership. The concept of privatistaion is associated with remediation of the existing financial systems. Privatization has reached heights in all areas, because of the expectations of increased financial stability and economic growth. Despite the large number of privatizations, state banks retain an important role in finacial systems of many countries. Various degree of developmnet of individual countries and its fiancial markets dictate different objectives and corresponding models of bank privatization. The primary objective of all privatizations is independent management. The most freaquently used models are public offering, a direct sales of property and a model of free transfer of state property to the publlic. Foreign ownership is connested to the privatistion, since a large part of foreign ownership stems from the privatisation of former state-owned bank. The most important institutional change in transition economies has been the change in ownership or the expansion of foreign ownership.