CHANGES INSIDE THE ROMANIAN BANKING SYSTEM IN THE FRAME OF THE FINANCIAL AND BANKING CRISIS Abstract: After the year 1990, bashfully at first, but then more and more prominently, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have become major loan recipients from foreign banks, either cross-border, or local through open subsidiaries in the emerging European countries. The Romanian banking system continues to be among the most dynamic economic areas in Romania. Further on characterized by a relatively low level of financial intermediation, the Romanian banking market is considered to have potential for the possible buyers, especially in the crisis period when many small banks looked for a merger with another small or medium bank for consolidation reasons. Although the Romanian banking system faced crisis pretty well comparative with the rest of the world countries, if we consider its equity, its profits kept on decreasing every year and the rate of the non-performing loans increased. Keywords: banking system consolidation, market share, profitability, Romania. Journal: Constatin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu Annals - Economy Series