The French Cofidis Bank is set to open its first Hungarian branch in Budapest after Hungarian market regulator PSzÁF recently issued the bank’s operating license authorizing it to offer credit, cash flow and cashless services, business daily Napi Gazdaság reported. Cofidis is the third foreign-owned bank to set up in Hungary this year after Germany’s Dresdner and the Belgian Fortis. According to Napi Gazdaság, opening branches in Hungary have been largely unpopular with foreign banks because of double taxation used by Hungary despite existing OECD directives allowing countries to avoid this.