IFC looking to invest in Romania

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, is in talks with several banks and companies on the Romanian market to set up a mortgage company, Ana-Maria Mihaescu, head of the IFC office in Romania, told Ziarul Financiar.
The Government at the end of last year regulated the establishment and operation of this type of financial companies, which are supposed to create a market for the mortgage loans.
IFC is also looking at insurance, after having sold its stake in insurer Garanta. “We are watching the insurance market, where we would like to invest because of the obvious need for capital and for a consolidation of the reinsurance capacity,” Ana-Maria Mihaescu says.
IFC is currently analysing the structure of several insurers. “We would like to contribute to the creation of long-term, ROL-denominated financing instruments, using, perhaps, the ROL resources of insurers,” the IFC official added. According to Mihaescu, should it come to life, the project will not be “traditional.”
The International Finance Corporation may also help boost the growth of the Romanian financial market, as it is planning to set up an asset management company, together with other investors.
In 2003, IFC aims to build a credit bureau – a private financial entity, with commercial banks among its shareholders, to be used by banks and other financial institutions to check the credit history of the natural persons.
The International Finance Corporation is also thinking about buying into BancPost, in the account of a $10m credit, convertible into shares, which was granted to the Romanian bank in 1998.