Page 26 - bne_newspaper_November_16_2018

Weekly Lists
November 16, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
bne:Banker
Head of Poland’s financial regulator KNF resigns after billionaire banker's accusations of soliciting bribe
The head of Poland's financial market regulator KNF Marek Chr- zanowski resigned on November 13 following media revelations that billionaire banker Leszek Czarnecki had accused the official of soliciting a bribe in return for the KNF’s favourable approach to Czarnecki’s banking businesses.
The accusations were made public earlier in the day in articles
run by Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and the Financial Times.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has demanded a probe into the allegations, which surfaced after Czarnecki submitted information on the alleged bribery attempt to the prosecutor’s office.
According to the information, Chrzanowski invited Czarnecki to a private meeting at the KNF in March. During the meeting – which Czarnecki secretly taped – Chrzanowski offered a number of favours from the KNF in return for Czarnecki hiring a lawyer indicated by Chrzanowski at Getin Noble Bank, which the billionaire controls.
Slovenia’s largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska banka (NLB), announced on November 14 its shares have been admitted to trading on the Ljubljana and London stock exchanges.
NLB announced on November 9 the successful pricing of its offering at €51.50 per share and €10.3 per GDR within its IPO. Based on the offer price, the market capitalisation of the company will be approximately €1.03bn. The Slovenian government is required to privatise the bank by the end of this year under its commitments to the European Commission.
NLB is the largest banking and financial group in the country with a market share of 23.2% by total assets and the largest client base. The NLB Group had 349 branches at the end of June.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has urged five of the six countries in the Central Asian region to strengthen their banking sectors.
With the exception of remote Turkmenistan, banking sector problematics across Central Asia appear to be part of a trend. The worst case is observed in Tajikistan where public trust in the banking system has collapsed following a banking sector crisis, with two of the country’s largest banks still ailing from difficulties first seen in 2015.
Shares of Slovenia’s NLB admitted to trading on Ljubljana and London bourses
EBRD urges Central Asian countries to strengthen banking