Deutsche Bank will not drop Romanian plans

Deutsche Bank, the largest financial institution in Germany is keeping an eye on Romania, in search of opportunities to expand its business, officials of the bank say. “Deutsche Bank has been interested in the Romanian market for a number of years. This is why we are constantly looking for ways to expand our business on this market,” Michael Lerner, spokesman for Deutsche Bank told ZIARUL FINANCIAR. The group currently has a representative office in Bucharest. The first definite action may come in spring after several rumours over the past few years. Peter Tils, Deutsche Bank official in charge of operations in the CEE region, says that an announcement will be made in April. He was one of the main supporters of the participation of the German bank in the race for BCR and still believes that Erste paid too high a price for BCR. The main target would now be the capital market, although Deutsche Bank may also conduct operations on the leasing market. The German bank used to be the candidate of choice for brokering Romania’s bond issues, but lost out to a syndicate comprising UBS, CSFB and EFG Eurobank in December 2007.